


Within a Long Time

by GraysonDrake



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:15:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 64,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29443956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraysonDrake/pseuds/GraysonDrake
Summary: this is copy-written





	1. Chapter 1

PROLOUGE

Year 512   
We all know the saying "Nothing built lasts forever." Perhaps there is no meaning at all, perhaps we are just trying to outrun time. People fear the thing we cannot escape and a good few barely even recognize it as they drink it all away. Drink and dream the time away. Before one knows it, they're dead or dying and the ones left behind are left to live through a small part in the History of Time. Though some things still stand, I know they will eventually be swept away into sand and dust. Eventually we're all faced with the same question: what are we going to do with the time given to us? In the end the most powerful tool is our human emotions. It’s the thing that drives us and weaves the path down which we burn.   
For a long time, a mysterious plague has swept over the lands for over seventy years. The demon Eroberer has wreaked havoc; burning towns and pillaging cities but in contrast to the cold dictators of unraveling empires, Eroberer appears to have no aim. He is said “to have never muttered a single word and he is liberated from the curse of human emotions. The luster of gold nor the pride of glory excites him.” Perhaps it is some kind of revenge that pushes him or perhaps a violent dialogue that murmurs in his mind.  
It’s been said he has once been normal like you and me. His origins are truly as vague as the meaning in our dreams. He hailed from a realm so secret and so hidden like fabric in-between the layers of our world. He was a well-educated man who was unfortunate enough to encounter a hideous fugitive from the pit of the Earth – declared guilty of genocide by the divine beings of the heavens. He met the malevolent demon named Nero; who’d plagued the Earth for decades and walked amongst the dead, proud of the genocide he’d committed. In his desperation of his ending reign, he offered his powers to the despairing Eroberer, who’d turned ill and weary from the recent disappearance of his young nephew. Eroberer was the brother of the Great Guardian Elvus – a God with an unimaginable amount of power – but Eroberer was not blessed with the same power that granted Elvus such extraordinary privilege. Like any demon would, Nero would tempt Eroberer with a pen and contract in hand and from the basement of his own house, the demon Eroberer was born. Signed with his blood on the leathery hide stripped off of dead livestock, the magical contract was completed and Eroberer was thrust down a path which none can escape. Nero’s power left him and traveled through invisible paths as it coursed into Eroberer’s body. What power that swallowed Eroberer wasn’t just the obscure magic that demon's grasp, but a fragment of Nero’s soul poisoned his blood and it soaked through his capillaries, slowly creeping into his jealous mind.  
The contents of the contract stated that Eroberer would host Nero’s power and with it, he must destroy his divine brother Elvus who had cast punishment on Nero. Thus, his body cannot die as the contract does not allow it nor does he have a free will until the deal has been fulfilled. That is the nature of contracts signed with demons.  
It is said he has not lost all his humanity. There still seems to be some part of him that does not wish this destructive chaos. Witnesses frequently claim that he briefly hesitates before bringing down the axe, like an echo of the true Eroberer still remains and battles against Nero’s dominating will.  
Five hundred years ago Eroberer and nineteen other demons had conspired together, waged war on humanity and in their terror the modern world fell into a fiery chaos of unjustified genocide. Their scheme was to summon the great Elvus and end his divine reign but Elvus prevailed against them. Eroberer was sunk under a gigantic mountain and the demons’ bodies were destroyed, their souls and their powers were trapped in the crystalline blades that’d killed them. Elvus hid those blades in a shrine in a different realm and indiscriminately left strange openings to that realm in odd corners all over the world. The enchanted blades remain untouched for all those who bravely dare to clutch the hilt of a blade - that catches their eye - are overwhelmed by the demon’s spirit trapped inside, their body is possessed, and the two souls switch places, but the shrine is enchanted. A powerful magic does not permit a possessed body to waltz freely from the doors of the shrine.  
One man did figure out the intention behind the blades and he is the only one by far to ever hold one of these swords. He goes by the name Hans, but not long after he acquired his sword, he vanished, and no one has seen him for over 13 years but there’s been rumors that he’s still alive and he’s just biding his time.

CHAPTER 1: Death

Amongst the roles and crashes of waves a man stands upon the pale beach. His thick grey wool uniform stained with the blood of enemies and allies alike and covered with persisting tares; each had an individual reason for its undesired existence. He gazes past the chirping gulls to the sinking red sun as it begins its steady plunge into the sea. The gusting wind relentlessly blows around his dark-brown hair. His pale face expressed great unceasing loss and suffering as he stared across the dark salty sea with melancholic eyes, he acknowledged the vase that his giant pale hand clutched with security – tucked securely under his arm. He is reluctant to scatter the contents of the vase into the vast everlasting wind and sea.  
"It should’ve been me," he mutters to himself in a drained and hollow voice. The waves crash against each other and the gulls chirp above. He slowly saunters down to the shore with his eyes fixed on the horizon with an intense longing to reunite with those who’ve passed. He marched into the twisting waves until his calves were completely submerged in the icy water. He holds the vase up against his chest - a final embrace and with a steady arm and trembling fingers he grabs the lid but hesitates to remove it. He takes a steady breath before separating the lid from the vase. He reaches out slowly tipping the vase and fine white ash sprinkled into the wind and the water. The man trudged back to shore dragging his feet against the gravel. He took to one knee on the edge of the shore and his pale hand scoops away the pebbles and shells covering the beach to make a cavity in the sand. The vase is firmly planted there and is carefully buried as to remain hidden. He looked to the sun, which has nearly sunken into a dark abyss, and with a final sense of closure he said,  
"I know it's not exactly the freedom you wanted," he mutters as if speaking to a ghost. He slowly abandons the shore with no intention of returning.


	2. Ghost

[Note – this is a story where the perspective for the most part is told from someone who has died. So, remember to use the right tense. For example, said instead of says.]  
[transition from 1st to 3rd person regularly. Also transition from character to character while keeping the 1st person perspective]  
[how do I make my character lovable, layered, and interesting?]  
[I have no idea…]  
[ideas: make him complex at times. Make him funny. Give him hobbies.]  
[make you hate those who are mean to the main character]  
[hobby ideas: he’s good at making arrow heads from stone, he loves starting fires, and?]  
[  
[friends to lovers. Chemistry is developed from a strong friendship. Regular love is developed through companionship and not through a shallow love-at-first-sight attraction. That’s a recipe for a weak and unconvincing friendship.]  
[chemistry: people can bounce ideas off each other and genuinely care about what they do day to day]  
[Ideas: people should walk away from reading this story thinking they just read a story about real people who actually lived]

For a long time, I have drifted amongst the cosmos and stared down at the Earth. I am not made of physical essence; I am a soul parted from a body that was abruptly robbed of life. Time has no meaning in this state for I have watched the rapid advancements of mankind with my lover at my side. Our skin luminates a cold pale blue, and our limbs wrapped in silky white cloth. She barely ever watches; her soft hand clutches my arm as she sleeps a prolonged slumber.  
For many years I’d contemplated and wondered what’d led me to this exact moment. Whilst drifting amongst the stars one has nothing to do except relive the life stored in our cluttered memories. I recalled the time where the consistent routine of my short life had suddenly been interrupted by a sudden and rapid change. That night my life spiraled out of my control and into the unpredictable hands of destiny.  
That night – when I was 15 – my deep slumber was interrupted by loud rapping upon my window. I sat up in fright; curious and yet annoyed from the sudden ruckus. What the hell is at my window? I asked myself. My eyelids felt sticky and everything was a great dark blur. I rubbed my eyes as I climbed out of my warm blankets and into the cold air. My feet felt frozen upon contact with the coarse wooden floor. There was a great big blur hovering in the middle of my window. Its continuous rapping grew louder with an aggressive urgency, making a cackle that echoed throughout the room. I suddenly felt a cold chill in my gut as I squinted at the silhouette - casted by the moon - looming on the other side of the thin glass pane, I observed the clear sight of a human’s head and shoulders of that dark apparition. But how could it be up that high? I thought to myself. I squinted with a terrifying urgency to make out the object whilst I hoped this was just a simple prank. As it came into focus my body became ice cold and every hair stood on end. Two soulless glowing yellow eyes stared directly at me. The sclera that was naturally the whites of the eyes were as black as a cold moonless night. I couldn't move a single damn muscle as my body stood petrified with a gripping fear.   
"Mom! Dad!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. This must be some kind of prank, right? Yeah, mom and dad must have put that up there. The face moved subtly, and I was no longer convinced this was a mere scarecrow. "Mom! Dad!" I shouted again. The figure began slowly moving away from the window. My hair stood on end and my body was covered in goosebumps. The man sunk into the forest disappearing behind the leaves. I let out my breath. My heart thumped in my chest like a beating drum. I didn't move nor did I want to move, and I stood frozen for several minutes straight. Ok you can't stand here forever.  
I ran up to the window, locked it, and closed the blinds. I grabbed my blankets, tucking them under my arm and ran downstairs into the Living Room. Yeager, a brown and grey hound, lifted his old head off the floor and looked up at me. He was quite a tame dog that was too old and too tired to care about anything. He wasn’t the type to get excited with odd new smells or loud disturbances.  
"It's alright boy," I said in a hushed undertone. I marched up to the door and locked the bolt. I walked over to the closet under the stairs, opened the door, pushed the coats aside and grabbed the giant wooden crossbow and quiver. The bow was nearly 25 pounds and stood over half my size. I stood on the bow, bent over, and hoisted up on the string. My back cracked as I barely managed to pull the string back a quarter of the way before giving up. "Gods." I muttered as I straightened myself out. It's okay the wood is just a little stiff. I bent over and went back at it again. I gritted my teeth and grunted as I hoisted up. The string made my fingers feel raw and burned. Come on pull! The bow creaked and finally I heard a click. I let go of the string and stood up. There was a sharp pain in my lower back and neck.  
"Oof... Shit," I muttered. I looked over at Yeager who stared at me curiously his head tilted, and his ears standing and pointed my way. I hung the quiver on my shoulder and lifted the steel bolt from it and placed it right in the flight groove. I lifted the giant crossbow and walked over to the door. I took a deep breath prepping myself, I pulled the bolt back and threw open the door. A draft of wind blew the door open and slammed it against the wall. I nervously shuffled out of the house across the porch and onto the cold moist grass.  
The trees swayed violently in the wind; creaking and cracking I couldn't hear anything except all the rustling leaves. I stood examining the forest waiting for something to leap out at me. There was a loud sudden WHOOSH in the tree ahead of me. My body jolts, I point the crossbow at the treetops and pull the trigger. THOOP! I jumped to the ground trying to avoid the figure. There was another Whoosh as the giant bird flapped its wings and flew across the clearing and landed on the roof of the barn.  
My heart pounded in my chest. I can't believe I shot at a fucking owl! I jumped to my feet, grabbed the crossbow, scrambled up the porch steps and slammed the door behind me. I grabbed my blankets as I rushed across the living room and I jumped into the closet under the stairs and slammed the door. My heart raced as I sat in silence.  
"I'm not getting fucking killed tonight," I muttered to myself. I curled up in my blankets with my back against the corner. I slipped the quiver off and closed my eyes.  
A light blue pellet shaped like a drop of water slowly fell through the blank silent void that I stared into. It slashed and transformed the dark space into a cloudy landscape that was an attractive blue. I stood on a smooth invisible platform that laid in the heavens. It all felt too vivid to be a dream but not grounded enough to be real. I gazed all around at the endless mountains of white clouds and the beautiful deep-blue sky.   
Several meters ahead of me there stood a woman, in a silky blue dress that was tight across her skin perfectly capturing all her curves. Her dark mahogany hair was thick and wavy, nearly draping down to her hips. Her eyes didn’t just stare at me, her glare was sharp, and pierced through me. Her irises were a terrifyingly blood red color. They stood in sharp contrast to everything around us. As I stared into her eyes, I had looked past her fiery glare and saw a great undying pain that clung to her like a parasite.   
The door behind me suddenly opened, my body quickly became immobilized with shock as I fell back against the floor and slammed the back of my head on its wooden boards.   
"Ouch!” I yelped as a blunt pain shot through my head. Father looked down at me completely puzzled. I looked up at him, my eyes groggy and my head still in a daze. His giant potbelly obscured most of his bearded face as I stared up at him.  
"Oliver," He said, holding back a laugh. "What are you doing sleeping in the closet?" I slowly got to my feet, my limbs felt stiff and I let out a small grunt in my throat. On the other side of the house Mother was scrubbing away at the dishes. The first floor of the cabin was one giant room where the Living Room, dining room and kitchen all occupied the same space, of course with the exception of the closet under the stairs.  
"There was– There was somebody at my window last night." The words seemed to slip out of my mouth like an overfilled glass of water. The clanking of dishes from across the room suddenly stopped, and mother looked over at me. Fathers face quickly grew concerned.  
"Who?" he asked in dismay.  
"If I knew I'd tell you," I muttered.  
"Oliver are you being serious?” father asked skeptically and with a serious face.  
"Absolutely!" I quickly pronounced.  
"What did it look like?" Father asked anxiously, he fumbled some of his words and his face had grew pale and weary.   
"Was it a woman?" Mother asked anxiously.  
"No," I muttered recalling the vivid image that stuck in my head. “It was a guy, his eyes glowed yellow and the whites of his eyes were black.” They looked breathlessly at me with wide and startled eyes. Father jerked his head to his side and the muscles around his eyes and forehead clenched tightly with indistinguishable emotions.  
"Blasted Jinn's," Father muttered under his breath. His voice was not certain but whatever troubled him was shielded by a confusing array of conflicting facial expressions.  
"Oliver if you're to see a woman you must not let her in!" Mother lectured me in a stiff and troubled voice.  
"What's the big deal?" I inquired with a faint undertone of annoyance growing in my voice.  
"No son of mine is going to be sleeping with a succubus whore!" Mother stated, frankly.  
"Come on, those aren't even real!" I exclaimed ignorantly. Mother and Father looked down at me with cold eyes like I was a fool. "What?"  
"It's a stranger world out there than you think," Father replied, breaking off into one of his preachy lectures. "It's important to keep your morals straight and not give into your temptations because... All the evils that walk this earth will feed off it." Father replied, frankly.  
"Oliver you wouldn't want your child to be born a monster, would you?” mother asked needlessly and with no discernable intention.  
"N-no. You know what! Stop pestering me!” I nearly shouted with a burst of agitation before I stormed off upstairs to the door of my room. I stared at the closed door, the disturbing images of last night flashed through my head and I was very hesitant to go in. With a heavy chill in my gut, I reached for the doorknob and entered the cold empty room. I walked across the dark space and pulled opened the blinds, letting the dim early morning light cast a silhouette of dancing leaves project onto my floor through the windowpane.   
As I glanced around, I spotted a dark figure standing in the doorway. It was that young woman again, in her light blue dress as she leaned an arm on the doorframe. I shut my eyes and violently shook my head in perilous confusion and fear. When I glanced up at the doorframe, the figment of my imagination had disappeared. Taking a deep troubled breath, I sat down on my bed with terrified thoughts. I deeply questioned my sanity and I convinced myself that I must still be sleepy; my mind is playing tricks on me or something.  
“Oliver!” Father hollered, politely from downstairs.  
“Yes?” I hollered back.  
“We need some more firewood,” he replied.  
“Fine.” I replied. I quickly got dressed and pulled my boots on. A bunch of light footsteps marched out of my parents' room and to my door before it creaked as it was quickly pushed open.   
“Papa said you can get firewood!” Emilia chirped enthusiastically. She was a small thing nearly 7 years old. She looked just like her mother except that her hair was a coarse light brown instead of a silky blonde. “Can I come too?”  
“Not today Emilia,” I muttered.  
“Why not?” she asked with an entitled tone.  
“Because...” I stood up after tying my boot. “I want to be alone.” I brushed past her as I left my room.  
“Mama says you’re getting weird!” She said as an insult. I let out a slightly annoyed sigh as I trudged downstairs.  
“I don’t care what Mother thinks,” I replied dismissively from the bottom of the stairway. I walked outside into the blinding sunlight where I observed that the wind had stopped since last night and everything was calm and peaceful. The events of last night felt like a dream, or a distant nightmare, I could hardly believe anything I saw was true or maybe I just didn’t want to believe.  
I cautiously entered the dark forest on high alert like a spooked stag. As I walked on, I slowly settled down becoming more and more comfortable with the calming nature that surrounded me and I forgot I was merely getting wood as I wandered around enjoying the captivating beauty of the forest. The singing birds and the bright warm rays of the sun comforted my internal uneasiness.  
In the distant woods I heard two distant and faint voices speaking to each other. One was a commanding, aggressive and cross tone, but the other one was quite a passive and gentle feminine voice. I followed the sound of the voices through the maze of trees. A house came into view past the brush as I passed several black locust trees. It was one of my neighbors, Spitz, or Gerhart as we like to call him, and he was talking to a young girl out in his front yard. He pointed in my direction before saying “that way.”   
The girl nodded and uttered a “Thank you.” Spitz turned around and eagerly went back into his cabin and the girl started walking in my direction. What should I do? I asked myself. The girl carelessly stared at her boots as she sauntered forwards as if she didn’t care if she was going in the right direction.  
Her short light brown hair was straight and silky as it was long enough to cover her ears, her forehead, and the back of her neck. She had it parted down the middle, but several strands of hair hung over her face down past her nose. Her big hazel eyes were naturally droopy, and it gave her a sad looking aesthetic. She wore a heavy dark grey uniform with back buttons and red epaulets. The coat was baggy, obviously a size or two too big and she wore a dark grey skirt that hung to her ankles (we’re civilized people here). Her boots were tall, nearly stretching all the way up to her knees. The girl drew back a breath as she spotted me.   
"Hey," I called out.   
"My God," She gasped. Her body jolted as she froze in her tracks. She looked up and looked me in the face with wide eyes. "You scared me," she exclaimed.   
"S-sorry," I stuttered light heartedly. “I didn’t mean to. I just heard you talking to Spitz. Sorry about his sour attitude he’s not very fond of strangers. Is there something you need?” I asked as politely as I could, but I felt I sounded awkward.  
"Well, I was beginning to think all you hermits had sour attitudes," She replied with a slightly bitter tone.  
"Not all of us," I refuted humorously.   
"Well... I'm looking for a man known as the hermit. Any idea who he is?” she asked timidly as if I was as clueless as she was.  
"Yeah, I do," I answered nervously. There was a spark that ignited in her eyes when I answered. I started to feel my heart race as I was uncertain on my next move. I hadn't talked to a girl that was my own age in years.   
"Wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Can you please show me the way?" she asked in a polite and eager voice.  
"Sure," I blurted out with an un-tempered awkwardness. I looked back into the woods. "He's this way," I stated as I gestured with my hand for her to follow me. I nervously began walking in the direction of his cabin. "What's your name?" I asked.   
“Diana,” she answered with a stout and assertive confidence. "And you are?"   
"My-name's Oliver," I muttered with a contrasting false sense of confidence in my voice.  
"Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Oliver," Diana replied with poise.   
"To you as well,” I muttered. It seemed strange talking to her at first, she talked so formally, and I wondered if all the people from the outside talked like this. I looked at the ground for a few seconds and watched myself walk on the dead leaves and twigs. "So, why are you looking for this hermit?" I asked.  
"I was sent by my commander to find him and ask him several questions," Diana answered. My suspicions about her being a soldier were answered. It explained her uniform.   
"So, you're a part of the military?" I asked. Diana nodded her head. "But you're so young." I remarked.   
"Well, the minimum enlistment age is 13 and it only takes 3 years to train."   
"Why would you ever want to join the military at 13?" I asked with a bit of arrogance. She briefly paused before answering.   
"It was not my decision," she replied. "My family decided to enlist me just like all of my other siblings. We're all sent off once we reach twelve years of age to train as officers,” she informed me. I found her words particularly interesting and almost unbelievable, but she spoke with a convincing sense of insight and in a confident manner.  
"Your family huh? I wouldn't do it even if my parents forced me, I mean you're your own person, can't you do what you want?" I asked arrogantly. She gave her answer a few more seconds of thought than usual, even turning to look at me for a split second, then looking back ahead.  
"I may dislike it but what other choice do I have?” she muttered. “I'm just content getting away from them," Diana spoke of it like it was a meticulously disguised guilty pleasure. Great to get away from your family? I asked myself as I found her statement to be quite relatable.   
"I know how it feels," I mentioned to her. From a distance I spotted the hermit's cabin about 400 yards ahead of us through the dense tress. It looked like there weren't even anymore shingles as moss covered the roof and chimney.   
"God, it looks even worse than it did before,” I muttered to myself. Diana looked over at me with a furrowed brow and an uneasy expression in her eyes.  
"This hermit isn't deceased, right?" she asked with a strong and obvious doubt about his health.  
"He's not 'that' old he's just... Not that social," I explained awkwardly and let out a soft chuckle.  
"Do you know him personally?" she asked.  
"Yeah, he'd kind of been like a teacher to me for several years,” I briefly explained.  
"I see," she muttered in a low voice.  
"Yeah, he's just a shy old man," I replied, trying to ease her suspicion. Diana let out a light, doubtful sigh.  
"Are you absolutely certain this is the place?" Diana asked with such a strong and anxious doubt. I looked over to Diana and nodded my head. We walked into the small clearing surrounding his house. The sky had turned completely grey and the surroundings dimmed turning the surrounding trees and grass a bland color. I trudged across the tall grassy lawn to the rotten steps of the cabin. The old steps had turned green and grey as they decayed with moss and mold. They were disgustingly damp to the point where they were coated with slimy decay that was slippery if one did not take careful steps. The floorboards of the porch were spared from the disgusting rot and they remained grey, dry, and cracked up along its edges. The heels of our boots drummed on the hollow wooden porch as we walked up to the door. I raised my fist and firmly tapped twice on the old sun-bleached door.   
Moments later there was a light rustle coming from inside the cabin. Then the light tapping of footsteps coming closer to the door, the brass doorknob turned, and the door opened back ajar. Part of a face looked at us through the crack. The door opened enough for the hermit to stick his head out into the dim sunlight, his old grubby face looked down at us with tired and weary eyes. He hunched his back as he hung his head out from between the frame and the door. The wrinkles under his eyes had gotten more obvious and the skin on his face had sagged as if he were shrinking but his skin was not. His long stringy grey hair and beard looked greasy and had been unmaintained for a long time. His eyes drooped and the bags under his eyes made him look restless. I immediately was stunned from the sight of how shit-faced he looked.  
"What do you want Oliver?" He asked as if I had disturbed him from a long nap. I took a step aside out of Diana's way.  
"Actually, she wanted to talk to you," I said. The hermit raised his eyelids a little with some newfound intrigue.  
"Oh," He replied with a bit more excitement in his voice. "About what?" he asked.  
“Eroberer and the Merchant Warrior," Diana answered. The hermit let out a long sigh as he scratched his head.   
"So, I take it you've been looking for the Merchant Warrior. You must have heard the rumors that he lived in these parts,” the hermit said.  
"I know very little. I was sent here to find out a little more," she explained.   
“Come in,” The hermit replied. "I have some books about it."   
The hermit slid back and pulled the door open for us. His house was dark and looked cluttered just from the outside. The flaming stove at the other side of the room was enough to light a path for us as we walked through a hoard of odd objects. There were many books, animal skulls and odd pieces of furniture that laid all over the floor. The hermit gestured to sit at a table near the stove.   
"Take a seat and I'll find your books." I walked up to the table and stood up a knocked over chair. The hermit returned with two thick books tucked under his arm, one was a faded green and the other was a deep bright red. He threw the books down and blew the dust off their old shabby covers. He then pointed to the red book before saying, "This is the entire known mythos of Eroberer as we know it."  
I grabbed the book and flipped it open to two illustrated pages near the center. I could tell this page had been opened much more frequently than many of the other pages. The two-page drawing was of a four-legged creature with a giant body standing in between its crab-like legs. I looked to the writing on the bottom corner.  
"The Abomination," I read out loud. "A depiction found carved on a stone ruin." I flipped to the next page and read the description:  
"It has said the abomination manifests by stealing the flesh and blood of the living and dead and growing into one of the most terrifying creatures known for the near extinction of humanity. According to legend its womb births an army of abominable creatures that plagued the land. It was said that the abomination was destroyed by Elvus about four hundred years ago by showering it in lightning and petrifying the flesh and turning it into a 4,000ft mountain. The existence of this creature was believed to be a myth for hundreds of years until giant bones and stone carvings were discovered providing evidence of the existence of this creature. The size has often been disputed but a majority of scholars believe that the creature had grown over time."  
"These books are rare," Diana remarked.  
"Aye." The hermit replied.  
"These books were made before the invention of the printing press,” she said.  
"The printing press was only made about 7 years ago," the hermit replied.   
"Is this book saying this creature actually existed?" I asked with a high undertone.   
"Absolutely," the hermit replied.  
"No! nothing like this could ever exist! Right?" I asked arrogantly. "You're just joking right?” I asked in a panic.  
"Oliver you know demons exist," The hermit replied in a hoarse voice. "All those books we read-"  
"Were fake," I interrupted him arrogantly. "There's no way some 4000 ft creature could exist,” I exclaimed.  
"Oliver, all those books you studied, all those books we read were about real events,” the hermit muttered. “The Merchant warrior is real, and he is still alive." The hermit replied.  
"The green book," Diana inquired. "What is that book about?" she asked. The hermit slid the book over to Diana.  
"It's a journal," The hermit replied. “It once belonged to the merchant warrior. He gave it to me.”  
“What?!” she exclaimed. There was a spike of interest in Diana’s voice. “You knew him?” she asked in shock. The hermit slightly nodded his head.  
“Yes, he was a mercenary from the Great Islands far in the west. He was quite a skilled craftsman, a fighter, a merchant and a good friend...” he reminisced with a dignified voice.   
“Can you tell me where I can find him?” she asked anxiously.  
The hermit turned his head and looked directly into my eyes before looking back at Diana. “No… The last promise I made to him was to keep his location secret.” I could tell by the hermit’s voice that his statement was final. Diana shuffled around in her seat before pulling out a brass pocket watch that was linked to a fine chain reaching out of her coat pocket.  
“My, my look at the time, it’s nearly ten!” she observed. She quickly grabbed both books, tucked them under her right arm and marched towards the door. She paused at the door and looked back at us. At me. “Well, aren’t you coming?”  
“Yeah. Sure,” I replied as I stood up out of the stiff wooden chair.  
“Oliver,” the hermit said, grabbing my attention. “Be careful out there. The world is much bigger than you think it is.” I slightly nodded my head before replying.  
“I will,” I replied confidently.   
Diana was already outside waiting for me in the hermit’s overgrown lawn. As I walked up to her, she tilted her head and opened her mouth. “I’d appreciate it if you showed me out of this forest, please.” I could tell by the tone of her voice she yearned to leave this place. I looked up at the early sun which was just barely gleaming through the treetops. It was early enough where it still was positioned in the East.  
“Your town is East from here?” I asked, I was positive it was East, but I had second guessed myself and decided it was better to ask. Diana nodded her head in agreement.   
As we walked eastward, Diana broke a stalemate of silence that’d lasted several minutes too long. “Do you have any siblings?” Diana asked in a very informal tone that I did not hear her speak in before. It was like she’d taken down a barrier or like she’d removed a mask of superficial formality.  
“I have a sister and I used to have a brother,” I muttered.  
“Used to?” she inquired.   
“Yes, I have vague memories of him, but he died...” I said with a low voice.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry-”  
“My parents said he died. I don’t think they ever found him,” I unintentionally interrupted her.  
“Two of my siblings have died,” she said, her tone was hollow. “My Dad and ‘moms’ had 14 of us.” My jaw unhinged letting my mouth hang wide open. I could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth.  
“You have... 13 brothers and sisters?” I asked in disbelief. After hearing my question, she let out a short but genuine burst of laughter. I figured she was laughing at the priceless expression my face was making. “How does one take care of them all?”  
“I haven’t spent many years with my parents. Usually, we go straight to boarding school,” she explained.  
“I’ve heard little about your parents but so far I can tell you don’t like them,” I remarked.  
“It’s necessary. We’re at war,” she said with a long-troubled sigh.  
“Yeah... With Eroberer. I thought he was a myth,” I muttered.  
“I’m-” Diana searched for words. I couldn’t tell if she was stalling because of nervousness or if she was attempting to word an odd phrase. “I’m building a squad.” Her voice began to taper until her last word was a mere peep. “You should consider joining it...”  
“Huh?! I’m not nuts! The military is suicide!” I exclaimed. There’s no way she’s actually serious! This is got to be some kind of joke.  
“Please. Consider it.” Diana peeped. “It’s an open offer. Maybe if you’re bold enough. You can find me in Mohtaha.”  
“Why should I?” My tone had unintentionally become arrogant. Diana pondered for an answer to my question for several moments before speaking.  
“Because in 2 weeks... There’s going to be a draft.” Diana looked the other way and slyly licked her bottom lip. “They’ll be looking for young men like you, but if you apply to my squad, you’ll be able to dodge the draft. If you join the squad that is.” The tone in her voice had changed to a slow emotionless murmur. Suddenly there was a chill in my gut and my legs froze up. What? How could that be? This is bullshit!   
“Wha!? Who are we fighting?” I asked impatiently.  
“Eroberer! You dummy!” Diana said in a condescending tone.  
“Well, if he’s just going to turn himself into a giant ass abomination don’t you think we should just all pack up and leave?! A million men couldn’t destroy that thing!” I exclaimed.  
“It’s not just Eroberer out there. He has quite a mass of followers.”  
“Followers?! Don’t they have anything better to worship?”  
“If you can’t beat him, join him I suppose. There’s just Huns and Huns and Huns expanding his empire. An empire we share a border with... Up North there’s a break in-between the mountain chain and the Black Sea where there’s nothing but open farmland. It’s terrifying to think they could just march or ride right through if they wanted to. Compared to our allies Gunterberge, Itlija, and Gertchlian; Aulganiya is weak. At least 2 years ago Ykpanjlian used to separate us from the empire, but it fell into chaos and it’s no more,” she explained with an anxious tone in her voice.  
“What are you trying to say?” I asked in a low voice.  
“We’re quickly militarizing to match our neighbors. It’s likely sometime in the near future they’re going to try and invade our home,” she said as she placed her hands in her coat pockets. Diana’s words were a startling and terrifying wakeup call. I had begun to question my lifestyle of solitude and I wondered what the rest of the world looked like outside of this forest. A seed of anxiety was planted in me; it was like I was foretold that I’d be struck by lightning, but I just didn’t know when.  
“What’s your last name again?” Diana asked.  
“I didn’t say,” I muttered. “It’s Harris.”  
“Harris isn’t even close to an Aulganiyan last name. It’s more like those island folks who live in the west,” she remarked with a suspicious tone of voice.  
“So?” I asked curiously.   
“Is it your father’s last-name?”  
“Yeah,” I replied.  
“What's your mother’s maiden name?”  
“Ungureanu,” I answered, still uncertain what her intentions behind these questions were.  
“Mm, that’s a pretty common last-name,” Diana replied. “What was your father’s occupation?” I thought to myself, trying to vaguely remember the distorted memories that he had described to me over the table or in long stories. He came from the great islands, met Gerhart, met the hermit, traded salt for gold in the deserts far in the south, became a mercenary and eventually landed here.  
“He was a trader and a mercenary in his youth,” I replied. I looked over at Diana. Her hands were stuffed in her coat pockets, she was looking away trying to suppress a grin.  
Ahead of us the oak trees began to thin, and I felt a ray of sunshine reach through the leaves and beam down on my face for a split second. Through the edge of trees ahead of us was a bright yellow-green pasture where the land was tilted downward for nearly a mile.  
“Tch. What happened? I thought the forest was much bigger than this,” I muttered with a slight feeling of shock. I slowly walked out of the forest into the bright dank pasture. The early but intense sun shined down on me with a beaming warmth that radiated on my skin. Ahead of me there were meters and meters of tree stumps that filled the pasture. A tiny wooden cabin, several hundred meters down at the base of the hill was breathing out a fine white smoke. I looked east, towards a giant lake that laid nearly two miles away and many miles farther beyond there stood pale gigantic mountains, half covered in snow from the top down.  
“Woah,” I muttered to myself. To the south even more mountains, just a long chain of them linking from north to south and there were many more behind them. All of them gigantic and covered in snow. But it’s spring, I thought to myself. The snow should have melted already.  
“Maybe you missed last fall, loggers deforested this area.” Diana answered.  
“Is the world really this big?” I asked exasperated.   
“It’s bigger than this. Hundreds of times bigger than this.” I looked at her with an astounded expression. “Come back to town with me. I think you should join my squad.” Diana persisted.   
“Town?” I asked. She pointed her finger north east. On the north side of the lake there were tiny white and orange buildings several miles off in the distance, but they were partially eclipsed by a big hill. “Why are you persisting?”  
“I don’t know…because I insist,” she muttered. I looked across the landscape once more and there was a feeling of emptiness inside of me.  
“This world… how big is it?” I asked.  
“Why do you ask?”  
“I don’t know. There are some things I’ve always wanted to do. Like find the rest of my family,” I admitted.  
“Well, Oliver, I’m going to take off now.” I was suddenly disappointed as I was not ready for her to leave yet and I wanted to continue the talk.  
“Uh… Okay,” I muttered awkwardly. “See you.” Diana awkwardly smiled, she turned and began walking down the hill. I watched her for a couple minutes before turning and walking back up the hill. I was thinking to myself and I desperately wanted to follow her, but my parents would be outraged if I had suddenly disappeared. I thought of something to tell them. I was at the mercy of my parents. Maybe I should just leave and not tell them anything and face the consequences. It would be better than not being allowed to go at all.  
I walked across the lawn and up to the door. There was a faint smell of food coming from inside that made my dry senses water. I saw mom serving breakfast to father who sat at the dining room table.  
“Hey Oliver,” mother called out. “Come get something to eat.” Mother set another plate down on the table. I sat down at the perfectly square table and looked down at the two golden eggs and two dark red strips of crispy bacon.  
“How much wood did you get?” father asked. I was caught off guard for a moment and came to the realization that I had forgotten to do my job.  
“Oh man,” I grumbled. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”  
“You forgot to get wood?” mother asked.  
“Yeah,” I replied, with the intent of telling them about my experience. “I met someone in the woods.” Mother looked over at me from across the stove as she scraped an egg off the pan and onto her plate. She walked over to the table carrying her meal with a curious expression.   
“Really? Who was it?” she asked. I laughed under my breath with anticipation.  
“It was a girl,” I informed them. Father stopped munching on his bacon and finally looked me in the eye. “I talked to her. She was looking for someone who went by the title The Merchant Warrior.”  
“Really?” mother inquired with a bit of shook in her voice. “What happened?”  
“I showed her to the hermit, and he gave her some books,” I told them. Father just seemed to blankly stare at me without saying a word.  
“Papa, what’s a merchant?” Emilia asked. Father snapped out of his daze.  
“It’s someone who sells trinkets for money,” father replied. “I was a merchant who traded salt.”  
“Are you the Merchant Warrior?” I asked bluntly.   
“No,” he replied with a nod. “I was a merchant, but I certainly wasn’t no warrior.” I grabbed a piece of crunchy bacon and nibbled a piece off of it.  
“This girl asked me to join a squad,” I said.  
“What’s her name?” mother asked.  
“Diana… Anyway, I declined but she asked me to visit the military base in Mohtaha,” I said with a bit of nervousness.  
“Do you want to go?” Father asked. I looked up at him surprised.  
“Yes!” I exclaimed without hesitation. He let out a cackling laughter and grinned showing his yellow teeth.  
“You’re just like me!” he professed. “We’ve got adventure in our blood you and I.” He reached over firmly grabbing my shoulder and giving me a cheerful shake. “But you should actually come a visit once and a while. It’s through a fault of my own that I haven’t seen your grandparents in over 40 years.”  
“Thank you, father,” I mumbled.  
“He’s a bit young,” mother objected. “He doesn’t understand the ins and out of the world yet.”   
“That’s true,” father muttered.  
“Aw come on mom and dad! I’ll be back by tomorrow or sooner I swear!” I pleaded. Mother had a doubtful look on her face as she decided my outcome.  
“Fine,” she mumbled. “But you better be back by tomorrow or we’ll be looking for you.”  
“Awesome. I’ll leave right away!” I exclaimed while jumping out of my seat.  
“Eat your breakfast first,” mother ordered.  
“Yes mom,” I replied quickly planting myself down on my chair grabbing my fork and scarfing it down like a mad man. I grabbed my coat and rushed over to the door and grabbed the doorknob.  
“Oliver,” father called out. I froze and looked over at him. “Stay safe out there,” he said with a concerned voice. “To live one’s life, one has to be smart and take risks, and always use your head, you’re a smart kid. Remember that Oliver,” Father advised.   
“I will,” I replied. I swung the door open and stepped outside. I turned to and waved at them. “Bye mom! Bye Dad! Bye Emilia!” I shouted before slamming the door behind me, leaping off the porch and racing across the grassy lawn into the dark forest.

CHAPTER 3: City

The great pines were clearing rapidly, and the intensity of the sun increased greatly. I shielded my eyes from the intense sun as I waited for my vision to adjust to the brightness. I still had not reached the base of the hill yet. The day was bright and clear, and I could see mountains miles and miles away. One or two miles east a giant T-shaped dark blue body of water laid, and the waves made the surface twinkled bright specks of light. The land ahead of me was covered with a dry green grass that wasn't nearly as saturated and as dark as the tree leaves. A couple yards to my right was a trail that parted the grass and meandered northeast down towards the lake.   
I had a good feeling that the path would lead to town, so I trudged on ahead feeling the excitement building inside of me. I marched down the steep hill towards a dry dirt road cut out along its bottom. The giant lake had a peninsula that was the clove of a right mitten that had been placed in the lake and the wrist attached to it to land. I looked across the land to the white buildings glimmered off in the distance. The tall yellow grass was soft and dry, and it tickled my ankles as it brushed against me.  
I felt the air thicken as I descended into the lower altitude. I had come across and dirt road that was roughly cut into the side of the hill. Many people passed by riding strange four-legged creatures pulling wagons filled with hay.

(the town is north)

I looked to someone who was passing by. “Hey,” I peeped. For some reason, my confidence had disappeared, and my voice was a mere undertone. The person passed without batting an eye. I scanned around the crowded street and saw several men walking around in their uniforms. I quickly followed them as they sauntered about in the stone streets. I followed them through the bone white buildings with orange shingles.  
As I walked down the long stretch of cobblestone road, I had wandered into a roundabout as I tried to avoid a large crowd of people. All the houses circled the roundabout, and a single tree grew at the center of it. It was a small, crooked cherry tree. As I looked around at my surroundings, I suddenly spotted it. An impressive wooden wall and a gate on the opposite end of the roundabout from me. The wall was made of pine logs standing next to each other buried into the ground and the rusty steel gate was wide but seemed menacingly sturdy.   
As I walked towards the fortress passing the cherry tree, I spotted a familiar face a few moments later. Diana was sitting on a bench leaning against the wall. She was looking down at a book resting on her lap with her chin resting on the palm of her hand. I nervously shuffled across the street heading over in her direction. She quickly noticed me and looked up before waving her arm frantically as if excited to see me.   
"You came by. I'm impressed," Diana said.   
“Hey,” I greeted her in a soft voice. I took a seat on the other side of the bench from Diana. “I thought about what you said. Your squad, tell me more about it.”  
“Well, I’m going to need a spear and a shield,” Diana described metaphorically. “And a military engineer or two of exceptional experience and quality. I know you aren’t very mechanically inclined so maybe you could be one of the fighters.”  
"I asked because I was curious... Don't think you've just recruited me because you haven't. Okay?" I stated, frankly.   
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," Diana teased.   
"No, it's not." I replied. "Besides, joining the army is throwing away your life for something pointless," I said arrogantly.  
"Suppose that if you joined my squad, you'd have a great extent of benefits," she said in a tone that had become oddly serious.   
“Like what?” I inquired.  
“Well, my family is more than capable of giving advantages. I can personally double your salary and I could provide top class veterans benefits which is only available for high-ranking officers,” Diana replied. Her offer was slightly tempting but I still had no intention of joining.  
"I'm not convinced. I still won't join." Diana raised her right pointer finger to her chin and gazed at me with a befuddled face. Diana's face suddenly lit up and she snapped her fingers as if she'd come to an epiphany.   
"You drive a hard bargain. Fine I'll triple your salary," Diana proposed. I stared at Diana with my mouth gaping open. I couldn't believe her ignorance. I pondered for a polite way to explain why my answer was still a no.   
"It's not like that," I started still unsure what I wanted to say next. "It's, uh... More like a ready thing. I mean I'll think about it but I'm not sure I'm ready, so it's a no..." Diana's hopeful look quickly diminished. "It's nothing personal, I'm just not interested in money."   
"What?! Everyone should be interested in money. It's the thing that can buy everything!" Diana exclaimed with a judgmental tone. "Money is key to a great life Oliver." Her entitlement and arrogance simply couldn’t be masked by her façade.  
"I'm not really interested in money. I really just want freedom," I muttered.   
"Freedom? You're plenty free already," she said.  
"I mean, I just want to travel and go where I please." I replied. The interaction suddenly felt awkward and unsettling.   
"Well, you came here, are you going back to your home? " Diana asked in a displeased tone.   
"I don't know," I replied.   
"Well please just consider talking to Major Levine before you go," she suggested.   
"Your commander isn't going to change my mind." I stated, leaning back, and crossing my arms. “Draft or no draft I would’ve packed up and left this stupid country in a week's time.”  
"Whether he can or can't. I'd like for you to talk to him,” she said. “He's really something else. He kind of looks like you a little bit," Diana laughed.   
"You're joking right?"   
"Yeah, a little," Diana said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Anyway, I'm positive it's just a coincidence. You both have the look of those island folk from the west." I looked forward and took a steady breath. I didn’t come here to be lectured about wealth or be tempted by money. I came here because I was asked to. Well, it would not hurt to talk to this Major Levine there in no reason for me to refuse.  
"Fine, I'll see your major Levine. Just because I'm curious to see if you're right." Diana slapped her book shut and stood up. I leaned forward and got to my feet, and she turned and led me to the gate of the base. As we approached it, I caught a glimpse of the strange world that was behind it. She lifted the screechy latch and pushed the rusty steel gate wide open. My ears dreaded the awful screech the hinges made.  
The mood had changed almost entirely as there were no tall buildings or stone roads behind the wooden wall unlike the plaza. I stood and looked in awe at the rows and rows of dirty khaki tents that seemed to make a maze of a military base. All the grass had been flattened and died making pathways filled with puddles and mud. Several yards away there was a small rectangular wooden cabin with an orange clay roof that stood in great contrast to the tasteless tents. Off in the distance I spotted many of the soldiers sparring in an open field, one on one with wooden swords and poles.   
Diana led me through the tents as we walked towards the cabin. She walked up to it and tapped on its firm wooden door.   
"Who is it?" A man with deep lighthearted voice asked from behind the door.  
"It's me Diana and I have a visitor," she answered. A shutter in the center of the door slid open and two dark brown eyes peeked at us through the hole. The shutter closed and the door was gently pulled open shortly afterwards. A tall man stood in the building holding the door open for us. His hair was a long light brown mess. His chest and shoulders were broad, and he stood with excellent posture.   
"Listen, I'm sure you want to talk to Levine, but I don't think he wants to be bothered right now,” the man said.  
"I'm positive it will only take a few minutes of his time," Diana pleaded. The man let out a long sigh and brushed his hair forward with his hand. He then opened the door the rest of the way and pointed down the wooden hallway lined with doors.   
"The Major is in the records office," the man said.   
"Thank you Jakab," Diana replied before stepping into the hallway. I stepped into the building following Diana.   
I followed Diana as she paced through the narrow hallway. Each door lining the hallway had signs above them. Quarters, Lounge, meeting room, negotiations. She stopped at the door at the end of the hallway, looked to me and then back at the door. She slowly raised her fist and tapped lightly with her knuckle on the door. An annoyed monotone voice called out from within the room.   
"What?" He called out. Diana slightly opened the door and peeked in. "Oh, it's you."   
"Major Levine mind meeting someone?" she asked in a shy voice.  
"Who've you dragged in here now?" the Major asked. Diana grabbed my sleeve and tugged me into the room. A man sitting at a desk looked at me as I shuffled into the office. He had his legs propped up on his desk and a bunch of sheets of paper in his hands. The Major looked at me surprised and I too was shocked that he did bear a close resemblance to me.   
"Who's this?" Levine asked.  
"His name's Oliver." Diana answered. The major lifted his eyebrows and glanced at me again.  
"Let me guess you're trying to drag him into your squad?" Levine asked. Diana frowned.  
"No, not at all I came to introduce him to you," she refuted with an irritated voice. The major looked down at the papers in his hands and smirked arrogantly.   
"So, Oliver, you've made a friend with this brat?” he asked in a rude snarky attitude.  
"Sir?" I asked in disbelief of his disgust.  
"So, where do you live?" he asked.  
"In the forest on the hills southwest of here," I answered.  
"Ahh. Good people live on that hill," Levine replied. What the hell does he mean by that?   
"Well Levine?" Diana asked anxiously waiting for a response.   
"Well Oliver I suppose since you've hiked all the way here you don't have a place to sleep except the street. So, you're welcome to stay the night here,” Levine said.  
"Thank you," I replied.   
"Oh, and by the way Diana," he said.  
"Yes major?" she asked.  
"Tomorrow no more wild goose chases. I've set up a training class you'll be attending,” he stated.  
"Why? There's no need, I'm already a ranking officer,” she asked.  
"Spoiled brats like you who have no experience get people killed. Your family is ludicrous thinking they can just send a brat like you in here as an officer," he said with a rude ill-mannered tone. I looked at the Major with my jaw gaping open in disbelief of what he said. He smirked and looked away from the papers in his hands. "Don't let her looks deceive you Oliver, her family is a terrifying bunch."   
"What do you mean?" I asked.   
"Well thanks Major, we'll be on our way," Diana interrupted. She quickly opened the door, pinched my sleeve, and tugged me out of the office.   
"Get lost kids," Levine shouted from behind the door. I silently followed Diana while walking through the hallway. A tall dark hair woman was outside the Lounge room looking directly at us as we slowly walked down the hallway. Diana let out a long-troubled sigh. I suddenly felt bad for Diana because it seemed like Levine was directly attacking her.   
"He seems harsh," I remarked.   
"Yes, he is terribly honest," Diana mumbled as she looked down at the floor. "The things he says about me aren't true... He really has a great distaste for my family."   
"Hello Anna," the dark-haired woman greeted her. She was wearing a similar uniform as Diana.   
"Hi Rayna," Diana replied brightly. She stopped walking down the hallway and stood with Rayna.   
"Is this a new recruit?" Rayna asked Diana. Diana shook her head.   
"No, he's not interested," Diana replied. Rayna looked directly at me and tilted her head.  
"I can't say I blame you. Have a good day Anna," she replied.  
"You too," Diana said. We passed Jakab as we left the building and walked to.   
“I guess I'll be taking off now,” I said.   
“It’s getting quite late. You won’t make it back before dark,” she speculated.  
“No, it’s fi-” The image of that disturbing figure at my window flashed through my mind. “You know maybe a night here wouldn’t be so bad.” I forced myself to chuckle and I awkwardly smiled.   
“Well, we don’t exactly let squatters stay in our tents so, you’re going to have to sleep outside,” she stated.  
“Wonderful... Just a perfect opportunity for some black-eyed demon to suck the soul out of me,” I said in an anxious rant.  
“What? Are you scared of the dark?” she asked in a mockful tone.  
“No! I’m telling you man there was some sort of Jinn or... Something dicking around at my window last night!” I exclaimed. Diana voiced a very sarcastic “Uh huh” and I took that personally.  
“What’s your problem? I'm just saying they’re out there slithering around like a bunch of moths!” I voiced loudly.  
“You need help with your similes,” she remarked. I continued my rant and pretended she didn’t say anything.  
“I’m just saying: what use am I going to be to your squad if a succubus fucks the living daylights out of me or some jinn possesses my soul!” I exclaimed.  
“I doubt-”  
“Listen, ok? Yes, I’m terrified of the dark. It’s like flashbacks, you know. I’m not going to shut up unless you get me like a tent or something! Ok!?”  
“Shut up!” Diana ordered aggressively. I quickly shut my mouth. “Gods! You’re whining like a kid! You’re either going to sleep here next to a fire or outside on one of those filthy benches out there in the plaza with all the other homeless plebeians!” I didn’t have anything else to say to her. I can admit a base filled with soldiers sounded much safer than a bench in a plaza.   
“Okay, I’ll stop,” I muttered.  
“Tch, sorry that wasn’t very nice of me,” Diana replied. We walked through the open area in the base towards a fire pit amongst the khaki tents.   
“Yeah whatever,” I replied. An awkward silence came over us as we walked. I looked over my shoulder to the gate and peered through its bars to the city that laid beyond. “The city,” I muttered.  
“What about it?” Diana asked.  
“I’ve never been to such a place,” I said while looking out.

I found myself leaning on the log in front of the campfire. The sticks had burned down to dim coals. Everyone had left to go to sleep. I heard a heavy obnoxious snore to my right. It was Diana who was laying in the grass with her hair covering her eyes and her mouth gaping wide open.  
Maybe I should just stay here. It’s not so bad after all. If Diana was being truthful, I’ll just get drafted either way. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, and I have a friend too. Well not exactly a friend, yet.  
I clenched my fist and stared at the glowing embers. Joining the army would be my own suicide but then again, it is not like I have any other profitable career options. I closed my eyes and observed the shadow my eyelids cast over my sight.   
"Well, I see you're still awake," a familiar voice called out from behind me. I felt a shocking jolt sprint through my body as I was startled. I looked over my shoulder and spotted the tall man coming towards me through the darkness. Major Levine came close enough to the dim light so that I could make out his features. I watched his every step as he walked past us and sat on the other side of the burnt-out fire. Levine poked at the coals with a scrawny stick to remove the blanket of the ash that was slowly smothering the dying embers. He then threw a small split log on top of them. The stick’s edges slowly charred and began to smolder for a while until eventually a small flame appeared on the charred underside of the log.  
"So, Oliver, do you have any dreams?" Levine asked. His question seemed oddly specific and it caught me off guard.   
"Yeah, I've had a few dreams these past two days," I answered, trying to sound confident.   
"That's crazy. The same thing has been happening to me except for the past few weeks," Levine answered. He didn't sound nearly as dull as he did back in the office. As if he was actually enjoying the conversation. "It's been all messages and warnings." Levine rested his head on the palm of his hand and shook his head.   
"Only a few dreams have been like that for me. They mainly started off after I'd had a terrifying nightmare," I said.   
"Really? What happened to be so terrifying?"   
"From what I remember..." I stared upwards scratching at my chin as I tried to recall the dream. 

(recalls dreams. Add from earlier section)  
[actually, put the dream in the story dipshit!] 

"What about the other dreams?" Levine asked.   
"A woman is trying to warn me about some impending doom or fate. I'm supposed to avoid some special moment and she's not an ordinary woman. She had these big red eyes like some sort of monster." I looked up at Levine as he scratched his chin.   
"Mine are a bit different but not all that far off. In my first dream: I'd lived in a civilization so advanced their buildings were made of glass and steel and stretched hundreds and hundreds of feet in the sky."   
"No way," I gasped.   
"Yes, I often wonder how my imagination concocted such a city. Apparently, I was some business employer going to my office. Then..." Levine paused and he stared into the fire. "Then it suddenly went to hell."   
"What happened?"   
"It all started with an explosion and then these people appeared in the sky. They toppled the city blowing apart houses and buildings and one of them targeted me specifically. That's all I remember."   
"That's insane," I mumbled.   
"The one who attacked me appeared in my other dreams as well." Levine added on.   
"Major?"   
"Huh?"   
"Who is Eroberer?"   
"Eroberer is a demon."   
"Yes, I know that, but can you tell me all that you know about him?"   
"As you know he's conquering this continent." I nodded my head at the major. "He's a demon who can reanimate himself after death and possesses supernatural powers."   
"Why is he doing this?" I asked.   
"Well, let's just say once upon a time he was the brother of an incredibly wise being. Though this wise being did not treat him like an equal and could not foresee that an enraged Eroberer would turn against him. Eroberer would make a deal with a mysterious devil that had been banished to some other world. A devil that'd constantly try and subdue The Wise One because of envy and hate."   
"What was the trade?” I asked.  
"The power to destroy The Wise One. The power of a God. Eroberer is bound to this Earth until the deal is completed. I've heard rumors that he successfully was able to draw out The Wise One once after the near extinction of our species but Eroberer lost the battle and was locked away for a very long time. He and nineteen other demons had been locked away but Eroberer managed to escape."   
"That's a lot of information to take in," I said.   
"Eroberer wants to destroy us as he's waged war on humanity itself. He spares his followers, and they do his bidding. He'll try and wipe us out and spread across all the lands."   
"So major is this why all of you fight?"   
"Yes," The Major replied with a bold confidence.   
"I see," I muttered.   
"I've dreamed that this chaos would end, and I've battled and trained hard hoping I would bring about some change. As I have been for the past 14 years," Levine said, his voice burning with passion. I stared at him in awe, inspired and moved by his words. "If you can bring about any change it begins here."


	3. dream

CHAPTER 4: Dream

I found myself laying down staring up at the pine branches obscuring my view of the sky. The ground was damp and the dead pine needles poked through my clothing and at my skin. My head felt fuzzy and I had no idea how I had come to be in this strange and vivid illusion. I sat up and softly placed my hand on my aching forehead. I slowly got to my feet and looked around at the tall and dark coniferous trees. This must be a dream, I thought to myself. There was a sudden crunch behind me that startled me making me swiftly turned around to see what had made such a noise. Suddenly the setting changed from a cold dark forest to a bright mountaintop. I stood on a huge slab of granite covered in lichen and between the cracks in the granite slabs were patches of bright grass and small conifers that stood one to two feet tall.   
A big cavity in the rocks caught my eye. I walked towards the unnatural cavity to get a better look. The hole was eight feet across and tunneled into the mountain for a long way. I could not get a good glimpse of what was on the bottom.   
"Curious, eh?" I heard the familiar voice of a woman. I looked around and saw the red eyed woman from my previous dream. "This is where you'll find me Oliver. A portal has been hidden at the bottom of this hole.   
"Portal? To where?"   
"To a shrine hidden very deep underground," The woman replied. "I've been receiving divine punishment and I have been for a very long time, but I think I've learned my lesson and you're the only one who can break me out."   
"So, what's with this warning you gave me earlier?" I asked.   
"You can't set me free if you're dead so it's a trade off," She answered.   
"I see."   
"Oh, and by the way my name is Isabella. Nice to make your acquaintance Oliver." The surrounding area began to darken until all I could see was Isabella. "Oh yeah." She pointed a finger at me. "One last thing before you wake up. Don't you dare die on me." She faded out and I awoke. I found myself leaning back on the log in the early hours of the day.   
Diana and Levine were asleep in their previous resting positions. It was first light and yet the birds chirped their songs. Rayna walked up to Levine and lightly kicked his boot.  
"I don't think I’ve ever seen you out here before,” Rayna remarked. I stood up and walked away from the site. There was a sickening feeling inside of me and I just wanted to go home. I stumbled down a muddy path and I followed it through the rows and rows of khaki tents. I’d forgotten the layout of the place and I’d gotten quite lost.  
“Hey!” A sharp voice called out. A young blonde man was trying to get my attention. “What are you doing here you squatter?!”  
“I’m not a squatter. I just need to get out of this place.”  
“Well, you’re going the wrong way pal,” The man said in a passive-aggressive voice. I listened to him and I went the other way. There was a strange feeling in my gut as I left the base and walked through town. For some reason I felt mentally exhausted and I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to get home.  
I walked the streets alone with a sick feeling brewing inside. I was well rested and yet my legs and feet ached. My heel burned from rubbing against the inside of my boot.

(Goes home for a few days, has dreams. Make two weeks of filler. A recruiter comes by and Oliver is drafted. He speaks to Levine about stuff.)  
As I sat on a chair in the living room stroking Jaeger’s head as it rested upon my lap, there was a sharp unexpected knock at the door firm enough to sound throughout the house. I stood up, mother rushed to the door to address whoever or whatever knocked. A tall man wearing his grey military uniform stood outside the door clutching a piece of paper. I had never seen him before in my life.

The recruiter rudely grabbed my arm and forcefully walked me through the military gate. I was very reluctant to go. I didn’t want any part of this. There was a large crowd of soldiers behind the gate all crowding around in a way that made me feel anxious. I spotted Diana standing with good posture with her arms crossed behind her back, she was in her full uniform and she already had her eyes locked on me as I was manhandled through the gate. As I looked into her face, I knew intuitively what she was thinking, like she was asking the obvious question. I nodded my head hoping the offer was still open and I mouthed an “I’ll do it.” She stepped forward and stopped in front of the recruiter.   
“I’ll take this one off your hands,” she said in a firm voice.  
“Yes madam,” he replied. He let go of my arm and walked away. I hoped I’d never see him again.  
“How do, Mr. Harris?” she greeted me. I was particularly embarrassed that our next meet up was in this awkward situation.  
“Hi,” I peeped. I was suddenly worried about sounding unconfident, so I spoke up. “Hi! What’s up?”   
Hi! What’s up? What the hell am I thinking?  
“Well looks like I was right,” She replied.  
“You win,” I replied smugly. “I’ll join your squad.”

“Yo man you just got ketchup on my dick.”  
-5th grade dipshit 1/30/2021

“I know Lloyd,” The Major replied.  
“What’s he like?”  
“He’s a cavalry commander and a damn good one. One of the bravest men I know. Right now, he should be at the front with the other foreign armies.” Levine replied.

CHAPTER 5: Commander

It was quite a bright night as the sky was empty, and the full moon cast down on the land. In a barren valley filled with grassy hills several riders moved about, undetected. They were scouting the land several hundred miles north of Mohtaha in hostile territory.  
“Commander Arundel,” a soldier shouted as his horse galloped up the small hill towards the commander who was perched at the top. The commander was a sturdy man with short light-brown hair. He was wearing the typical dark grey uniform with red epaulets and black steel buttons. He wore woolen riding breeches of the same color and his tall black boots stretched up to his knees, they had the common square-shaped toe and steel pegs were partially embedded into the soles for traction.  
“What is it captain?” Lloyd asked.  
“I bring news! We’ve found another fortress!”  
“Excellent,” Commander Lloyd replied. “Show me!”  
“Yes sir,” the captain replied. He steered his steed around, kicked into its sides and galloped down the hill with the commander close behind him. They galloped up, across and down several hills before turning a ridge into a valley where a gigantic stone fortress stood. Yellow light gleamed from the windows of its’ tall stone towers.  
“Tomorrow at dusk we push deeper.” Lloyd directed. The captain’s hopeful face had diminished into one of concern.  
“Commander Arundel, do you think this is wise?” The captain asked skeptically.  
“It’s necessary,” Lloyd replied firmly.  
“If we push deeper and get caught no information will be returned,” The captain proposed. Lloyd turned his steed around and began backing away from the fortress.  
“We make an extra copy of the map and send it back with a messenger. I’m willing to risk it.” Lloyd replied.  
“Commander Arundel! You must go back! If you end up captured your fate will be a tragic one. You’re too important to be doing this!”  
“They could torture me all they want but I have nothing to give,” Lloyd replied sternly.  
“They could bargain you!” he suggested.  
“The Arundel family is gigantic. If I die, there'll be plenty of successors to the throne,” Lloyd replied callously.  
They moved to a safe distance to a campsite at the base of a mountain in a heavily forested area where a group of a dozen soldiers had set up a camp. Lloyd dismounted his steed, he folded the map and stuck it in his coat pocket. The few cavalry men gave the commander a salute.  
“Commander shall we head out?” A soldier asked.  
“No,” Lloyd replied firmly. “We push on for one more day. So, get rested!” There was an heir of disappointment amongst the men as they heard the commanders strict words.  
“Yes sir!” all the soldiers shouted obediently.   
“I know it take great courage to fulfil such an anxious mission,” Lloyd preached sternly. “But we’ve survived days out here, so what’s one more day?” The soldiers had dark clouds looming over their heads as they listened to him.  
“We don’t want to die sir!” a miscellaneous soldier yelped. The captain turned to the commander as he persisted to convince him to retreat.  
“They’re spirit is breaking, commander, these boys need to get home,” the captain declared. The commander turned and approached the nearest soldier in front of him.  
“You, there corporal,” the commander said as he kneeled down before the exhausted man.  
“Yes sir?” he asked.  
“What’s your name?” the commander asked with wit.  
“Bogdan,” the man replied.  
“Well Bogdan,” the commander said. He looked down at the golden ring around Bogdan’s ring finger as he twisted it around and around. “You’re married?”  
“Yes.”  
“Children?” the commander asked. Bogdan nodded. “How many?”  
“Two,” he muttered. The commander warmly smiled.  
“You must be eager to see them again,” the commander said.  
“Yes sir,” he murmured. The commander stood up and faced his curious men with a warm face.  
“Pack your things,” the commander said. “We’re leaving this godforsaken place.” The soldiers jumped to their feet, bubbling with excitement.  
“Yes sir!” they all shouted with eager voices.

[insert a creature attacks them]

CHAPTER 6: Massacre 

One hot summer night, a peaceful village was pillaged and plundered by a rogue battalion of Aulganiyan soldiers nearly 35 years ago during the offensive that was risen up by the Merchant Warrior. In a small house and cluttered bedroom four children hid in fear from the rogues, one of which was special. A young boy by the name of Hans cowered under the bed with his older sister. He had just turned 11 years old less than a month ago.  
Amongst him and his sister was his older teenage brother and another older sister. He was the youngest of them as his brother was 19, the eldest sister was 17 and his youngest sister was 16 years of age. Outside he could hear the faint shouts of his mother and father claiming no one remained in the house.  
Han suddenly heard his front door being broken down accompanied by the terrified shrieks and wails from his mother. Hard footsteps marched through his house and up the stairs. His older sister held his trembling hand as the callous boots slowly marched through the hall.  
The doorknob twisted in place; the door was locked. There was a sudden bang on the door, then another, and another before the lock gave out and the door flew open. Hans watched the two black boots casually take a few steps into the room. Hans’s brother quickly sprung out of his hiding place and leaped at the intruder.  
“Run!” he shouted, grabbing at the intruder’s coat in an attempt to distract him. Hans’s eldest sister sprang out of the closet and ran for the door but a man on the other side grabbed her. She let out a scream. His older brother’s futile attempt of heroics ended as he was knocked to the floor. His sister was quickly pulled out from under the bed. Hans reached out and called her name. He too was pulled out from his hiding place.  
He was taken outside to where several others were couped up where he was forced to watch the savages rape his mother and sisters. He watched as his brother was forcefully drowned in the troughs from where the horses drank and while his father’s head was beaten in with a savage spiked weapon. After the women were executed, he still remained to be killed, but one man took pity on the boy who knocked him unconscious with his fist and simply threw him amongst the dead like a corpse. By morning, the platoon left the town after putting it to the torch.  
Hans managed to survive but he never forgot that night. It would haunt him for the rest of his life. He swore to himself he would make them pay and a seed of long-lasting hatred for Aulganiya was planted inside of him. He would continue on seeking revenge, never forgetting the names: Arundel, Merchant Warrior and Harris.  
Even after many, many years he was haunted by a demon in his sleep. A demon that offered him unlimited power. Hans would continue to fight valiantly against the invaders who tried to eradicate Eroberer and won the hearts of the people he fought for and earned a medal of the highest respect a simple Hun could achieve. He pledged his heart to his god and even after decades he still wished for the destruction of Aulganiya. 

CHAPTER 7: Date

I stood in a dark space. No, I couldn’t even say I was standing, more like I was drifting in an endless void surrounded by nothingness, no weight, no gravity, just nothingness. As I drifted through the silence of space without a care in the world and as I sank into nothingness, I could feel my consciousness dispersing through the endless void. A purple speck appeared before me. It seemed to grow as if it was drifting towards me. The only way I could describe it was a silhouette of a deformed apple tree – roots and all – that drifted in front of a dim purple light. Its bark had rotted, and all of the juvenile branches were stripped away.  
A hand suddenly grasped my shoulder and my frightened body jolted with a sudden but short-lived terror as I opened my eyes. Diana looked down with her hand on me.   
“Come on. Time to wake up,” she announced in a firm tone. I reached behind my head and stretched out my tight limbs before I sat up in my cot. I let out a dissatisfied groan as I rubbed my sticky eyes with my knuckle.  
“Jeez you’re not a morning person,” Diana remarked. I stepped out from the addicting warmth of my blankets and put my bare feet on the cold dirt.  
“You people get up too early,” I remarked. “What time is it?” I asked. She reached in her pocket and pulled out her brass pocket watch.  
“Quarter to nine,” she informed me.  
“What the-,” I exclaimed.  
“Hm?”  
“What the heck does that even mean?” I blurted out.  
“Are you daft? It means it’s 8:45,” Diana scoffed.  
“How does that make any sense?” I asked as a mere mumble through an unstoppable yawn.  
“Because” she interrupted herself with a yawn. “Fifteen minutes makes up a quarter of an hour so if it’s a quarter before nine then it’s 8:45,” She explained. I tilted my head back with enlightenment.  
“Oh,” I said with sudden edification, followed by a sudden feeling of idiocy.   
“Meet me at the benches after you get dressed,” she said before walking away and stepping out of my tent. I pulled on my thick grey uniform and stumbled outside towards the benches where all the soldiers would gather to eat. I was soon filled with dread as I had noticed most of the benches were empty and I had realized I was late for breakfast. Diana sat over in the corner and she waved to me to get my attention. I sat down across from her and a bowl of soggy oats laid between us.  
“I thought you’d get here sooner,” she said with a hint of abject. “I didn’t expect it to get that soggy.” I lifted the spoon from the bowl of soggy oatmeal and stuck a spoonful of the tasteless grains in my mouth. We awkwardly sat in silence as I choked down the awfully bland meal. If it were not for my empty stomach, I would not have eaten any of it.  
“So, what are we doing today?” I asked while pushing aside the empty bowl.  
“Oh, we’re going to fill out some more paperwork,” she answered.  
“Again?” I exclaimed. “More of it? How much more do I have to fill out?”  
“This should be the last of it,” she said while standing up. She gestured to me to follow her as she began walking towards the Office building. “Come on! Let’s get it done so we can screw around all day!” she urged. I stood up and eagerly followed her as she blissfully raced towards the office building. I sauntered to the Office with a purposeful haste as she was waiting for me at the door.  
Diana eagerly tapped on the door, Rayna answered and let us into the building. I could say her expression was gloomy and vague, well, it always seemed gloomy and vague in my eyes, so she was her usual self. Diana led me to the door to the records Office on the right side of the hallway. The records office was meticulously designed and organized. The first thing I noticed was the dark blue carpet that had an elaborate flower tapestry woven with silvery thread. It was like a library as each wall was blocked with shelves, books, and files. A large antique desk sat in the middle of the office with beautiful hand carved designs and a shiny wood finish. It was stained a dark chocolate brown. A short stool stood next to a cushioned seat on its other side. Diana threw open the curtains letting the early and dim sun illuminate the dark room. Diana jumped into the cushioned chair and I sat upon the short stool.  
She unbuckled a leather file and pulled out several papers that were crudely printed and pushed them in front of me with a fountain pen stuck in a cup of ink. I looked to the paper and wrote my full name: Oliver William Harris   
I skipped over the parts where Diana signed her name in fancy cursive of which I wasn’t good at reading. I looked to the agreement of my annual earnings; 6 marks a year and half a mark each month.  
“Half a mark,” I exclaimed. “That’s more money than I’ve ever laid eyes on. Surely no one’s tax dollars are paying for this.”  
“No, our squad isn’t publicly funded. Technically you’re a private employee who works for my family, but we have strong military ties,” Diana divulged.   
“Your family can afford this?”  
“Well, what can I say? We’re filthy rich,” she boasted. “It’s like I have my own private security.” I filled out several forms of the same document and signed them all. Somehow, I felt relieved that I wasn’t going to be a soldier used for fodder like all the others.  
“That’s a relief,” I muttered. “Wait a minute can I see one of the documents? I need to read the terms of conditions again.” Diana handed me a document as she stuffed the others back into her folder.  
“What is it??”  
“How long am I going to be employed?” I asked as I looked through the text. I skimmed through the seemingly long terms of conditions. 10 years, I read.  
“Why, for ten years,”  
“Ten years!” I exclaimed. I held myself back from tearing the document apart. “That’s a long ass time.”  
“Oliver you’ll be 26 years old in 10 years and you’ve earned 60 marks in that period of time. You’d practically be a high-class citizen by then,” her words were persuasive and had a bit of truth to them. She was right, to have earned sixty marks by age twenty-six is a massive accomplishment. I wasn’t seeking wealth but now that it presented itself to me, I couldn’t turn it down. My parents have made it to their sixties, I’ll have plenty of time to live my life after the contract ends but I must be very cautious. To live one’s life, one has to be smart and take risks, and always use your head because you're a smart kid. Remember that Oliver. I handed the document back to her.  
“I’ve got no issues with it,” I replied, calm and collected. “When I’m twenty-six I’ll be on my way.”  
“When I’m twenty-seven I’ll probably be married by then,” Diana envisioned with dreamy eyes. “Hopefully, my family picks a fancy noble who’s got his pockets lined with gold.”  
“Even if he was filthy rich, I don’t think he’d be able to stand you,” I replied.   
“Tch. I’d be amazed if you had a spouse by twenty-six,” she said scornfully. I could feel the heat building up between us.  
“I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll be able to survive ten years around you,”  
“I can’t stand you either,”  
“Then why’d you pick me?” I asked as an attempt at being clever. Diana paused putting her hand to her chin and actually thinking about her answer.  
“I can’t stand a lot of people but at least you’ve got some compassion and you’re not one of those simping idiots who can be led around by the nose. Which means you’re not an idiot and you have good insight,” she remarked. “Either that or you’re just good at hiding it.” I couldn’t help but smirk.  
“My parents always told me to never put myself on a pedestal,” I replied. I nervously picked at my thumbnail. We left the quiet office and stepped back out into the outside world without saying much to each other.  
“Well, do you want to take a walk around town?” Diana asked.  
“Sure,” I answered. Diana gestured with her head to go over to the gate and we walked down the empty path that led directly to the old, rusted gate. I looked to the soldiers training on the far side of the base several hundred meters away as they uniformly began doing physical exercises.   
We walked into the local plaza where the streets were packed with local flea marketers, vendors and of course all the customers. The walk around the roundabout was circled with many fruit and trinket stands managed by their own merchant. The road was filled with people who chatted away trying to speak over the plethora of chaotic noise. I could feel myself begin to get excited and yet part of me drew further into myself. Diana seemed almost terrified of the flock of people who’d herded in the roundabout. She made the first move and stormed ahead almost leaving me behind. If it wasn’t for my keen senses, I would’ve easily lost sight of her. With each step it was impossible to avoid awkwardly brushing up against people as I anxiously climbed out of the hoard and jogged after Diana who’d made it out without incident.  
The air around me never felt so violated before, I was almost disgusted and yet the masses of people were making me quite jittery and feverish. I followed Diana as we casually walked down a less cluttered street where we could finally breathe.   
“Hey Diana! Where are we going?” I called out as I approached her from behind.  
“We’re getting out of this ghetto,” she replied particularly emphasizing the “ghetto” in her voice with slight disgust. We continued west for several miles and the city changed dramatically. The stone roads were clean, and the houses were three to five stories tall. All the stores were in their own respective buildings. Yet there were still many people restlessly moving about. They were all respectively dressed in formal coats in a range of grey, black, dark blue, khaki, or brown. But Diana kept moving forward even though we’d been walking for over an hour. I suppose there were more classier folks further west.  
“Diana, where are we going?” I asked.  
“A confectionary store,” she answered. What the heck is a confectionary store? I asked myself. Well, I guess I’m going to find out soon enough. A couple passed by us on the sidewalk, eyeing us down as if we didn’t belong. The man was dressed fashionably in a black suit. He even had a golden chain hanging from his pocket and he needlessly walked around with a cane that he subtly pointed around when talking about something he had spotted. The significantly younger woman who clutched his arm, walked elegantly in a pure white blouse and skirt and her hair was curled high up onto her head. I couldn’t help but get the feeling they were talking about us and definitely not in a good way either.  
After another hour we’d wandered into a classier section of the city and the street ahead of us was terrifyingly busy, many well-dressed people sauntered about walking like they were gods among men. Horses and carriages rode along the street driven by well-dressed chauffeurs at the reins. The carriages were on another plain of décor and wealth. All of them were so elegantly crafted by skilled carpenters and engineers, all of them had family emblems on the doors, even curtains for the windows and a rare few with golden paint.  
Diana buttoned up her uniform and hooked her collar together before brushing her short hair behind her ears. She looked over at me and looked me up and down before she reached over and began to brush my hair down with her fingers.  
“You’ve got bedhead,” she remarked. I let her rudely dictate the nature of my hair for several seconds before she pulled her hand off of my scalp. “That’s better,” she remarked.  
We walked up upon the busy street and turned left. Many of the buildings were taller and had more glasswork in them. The shops looked attractive with bright decor and large pane windows where one could gaze inside. Several young children ran around carelessly chasing one another and yet they dressed in the same elegance as their fathers and mothers with the exception of jewelry. I watched them laugh and scream at each other as we walked past them. They pressed their faces and small hands against the window of a toy store filled with wooden swords and fake animals. They admired them. I had never seen such things before, it was all so different to me. Part of me envied them but I knew too much time had passed for me to enjoy such things. A well-dressed stranger passed me giving me a look filled with a hint of scorn as if I were repulsive to him and I didn’t belong.  
Diana ecstatically gasped, her eyes seemed to light up and twinkle as she pointed to the store ahead. “There’s one! There’s one!” she exclaimed bursting with a sense of childish joy. She dashed ahead of me to the window of the store ahead. I could make out a lot of tin boxes stacked up on all the shelves. She pressed her face and hands up to the glass for a moment to gander at the merchandise before rushing inside and leaving a large smudge of fog on the glass. The sign above the door read Sweets store. I walked into the small store not knowing quite what to expect. A middle-aged man stood at the counter and gave us a bright smile. A large patch of hair had cleared off his head, his grey mustache was trim, and he had a gut like a plum.   
Diana had her eyes fixed on the shelves of candies as she circled around with a bright and exalted expression gleaming from her eyes like she had witnessed a divine miracle. “There’s so many to choose from,” she declared almost drooling. I looked over at a small box of mints stacked above an 8 pieck price tag.  
“Eight pieck for a small box of mints is expensive,” I muttered to myself in disbelief.  
“Balls of chocolate and caramel!” Diana exclaimed. “Peppermint! Sweet bread! Buttermilk cookies! Vanilla chocolate! There’s so many to choose from!”   
I placed my hands in my pockets and tried not to look embarrassed with an awkward smile. Her hands were clasped together under her chin and tight against her body and her arms were held tightly to her sides. She wandered over to the other side of the store to review her options.  
“Caramel fudge! Caramel hard candy,” Diana exclaimed as she took a large flat tin off the shelf and stacked another one on top of it before rushing to the counter and placing them down before impulsively rushing to another box of candy that caught her eye. I looked out the window to the little kids gawking through the window of the toy store as they stood in front of the low hanging sun. One of them lost interest and the others followed him as he ran down the sidewalk. I quietly stepped out of the candy store and walked into the toy store which was lit in a blueish color. I looked at the shelf of false fluffy animals and a particular rabbit caught my eye. There was something so cute about its black button eyes, flimsy whiskers of yarn and ball of fluff for a tail. I purchased it for eighteen pieck from the old lady who sat at the counter.  
As I entered the candy shop, I was speechless at the sight of boxes Diana stacked on the counter. I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised when she grabbed another box of candy to add to her collection.  
“Diana,” I pronounced, nearly a shout of surprise. She placed her item on the counter and looked back at me with dreamy eyes. Her expression changed from dreamy to joyful and she let out bright wholesome laughter.   
“Don’t worry,” she announced. She pulled a cloth out of her pocket and waved its open end in the air letting it unravel itself and expand into a gigantic pocket. It was her pillowcase.  
“Oh my,” I muttered in disbelief. At about the same time two couples walked into the store. They were well dressed in fancy black suits and the typical white blouse, skirt, a lot of jewelry and makeup. They were all quite young but not as young as me. Like sons and daughters of wealthy folks. They laughed and sauntered about like there wasn’t a care in the world. The one of the women grabbed a small tin of candy and stood in the line. The young man with his cane did something that would always puzzle me. In an arrogant gesture he pressed his cane against me as if I were a pawn on a chessboard and for some reason I submissively stepped out of their way as they budged in front of me and Diana. I was in bewilderment of their audacity. I was unable to produce words of defense and for some odd reason Diana waited for them to make their purchase before she literally stepped into action.  
I wasn’t sure what I was thinking when Diana thrust the heel of her boot down into the man’s shoe, but I knew he had it coming to him. He let out an angry shout, “What’s the big idea?” he screamed. He swung back his left arm in a lousy fashion and without a thought or a moment's hesitation I grabbed his wrist with as much force as my hand could muster.   
He looked to me, his face showed obvious distress and I felt his arm buckle as he gave in. “Hey, come on now! Let me go will you,” he said in a neutral voice. He jerked back yanking his hand away and I let go of him. We eyed them as they left. I didn’t realize it, but I clenched the rabbit in my hand relentlessly squeezing it. The man behind the counter had a face of sheer disappointment and annoyance.   
“Don’t go driving away all my customers,” he demanded in a passive-aggressive tone.  
“Thanks for that,” Diana muttered to me.  
“No problem.”  
“Anyway, are you paying for this?” the man asked while pointing to the stacked tin boxes. “I don’t like people who waste time.”  
“Do you have enough spare change for a mark?” Diana asked.  
“Absolutely not,” he replied.  
“What about a half mark?” she inquired.  
“No.”  
“Quarter mark?”  
“Now a quarter mark I can do,” he replied. Diana pulled a coin from her pocket and laid it on the counter. He took the golden coin and began stacking a bunch of brass coins on the counter. I helped her fit her candies into her pillowcase, the thing was half her size, and she threw it over her shoulder to carry it all. Diana stuffed the several dozen coins into her coat pocket. With the bag of sweets on her shoulder and her pocket stuffed with jingling coins we left the store.  
“Hey, you did pretty good for your first day on the job,” Diana mentioned. I let out a laugh that shook off my persisting uneasiness.  
“Do I get a tip?” I replied facetiously. Diana reached into her pocket.  
“Fine here you go,” Diana said, holding out a 50 pieck coin. I gestured a refusal to take the coin with my hand.  
“I was just kidding,” I laughed.  
“What have you got in your hand?” Diana asked.   
“Oh, this?” I replied while holding up the rabbit. “I got it for eighteen pieck. Over at that toy store. You see I have a little sister.”  
“Aw. That’s so adorable,” Diana replied flippantly. I looked to the red sky which dimmed the streets.  
“Diana who’s your family?” I asked. She suddenly stopped in her tracks setting the bag down and plucking a small tin box of hard caramel candies.   
“Hey, do you want one?” she offered while popping one in her mouth.  
“No thanks,” I declined politely. “I was asking who’s your family?”  
“No?!” she pronounced. “They’re good. Try one.” She grabbed one of the golden oval-shaped candies and held it in front of my face. It had a pleasantly sweet smell and attractive smooth surface.   
“Fine,” I replied and reluctantly put the candy in my mouth. My mouth watered like an overflowing river as my tastebuds quivered in the taste of the buttery sweet candy that began to dissolve in my mouth. I had never tasted anything so smooth and delicious; it was sweeter than honey. I couldn’t help but bite down on the hard candy, grinding it into a pulp and swallowing it. “It’s good,” I noted.  
“You’re not supposed to eat it!” Diana advised with hers still in her mouth. She handed me another one. “You’re supposed to taste it.” I could understand why Diana liked candy so much. I stuck the delicious hard candy in my mouth and held it between my teeth and my cheek. She pulled out her pocket watch and flipped it open.  
“Oliver the gate to base is going to close in an hour!” she exclaimed with a concerned voice.  
“What! It can’t be 8 o’clock already?” I exclaimed, almost inhaling the piece of candy but managing to swallow it at the last second. Diana held the watch in front of my face with her free hand. I unbelievably read the clock – the shorthand just above the eight and the long hand almost at the three.  
I looked at the beautiful tall buildings. Their chalky white color turned a golden orange hue that the setting sun reflected on them. There was a sudden feeling of emptiness inside of me, I had never felt so small before in this vast world. I looked up at the golden cloud above me as it drifted in the wind. A hawk swooped overhead passing by and flying towards the sun.  
“I don’t think we’ll make it back before it closes,” I suggested.  
“Then they won’t let us in,” Diana groaned before letting out a frustrated sigh. “And I’m not too keen on sleeping outside.”  
“What about an inn! You’ve got some money on you,” I suggested. “How much money do you have?”  
“A mark, a half mark and 4,700 in pieck. Yeah, do you think we should rent a room?” she asked.  
“Where?” I asked. Diana looked around curiously as she scanned the buildings. I could see she was getting anxious as the streets dimmed and I too was getting anxious.  
“Come on, let's walk around. There’s got to be something,” Diana insisted. Diana gestured to walk south, and we hastily walked down the sidewalk which was becoming more and more abandoned by the minute as people retreated from the blinding darkness into the safety of their homes.  
We stopped at one sign that hung from a pole on the side of a building. It said Outlet Inn. Diana pointed over to it.  
“Shall we give it a try?” she asked. I looked at its easy open doors.  
“Sure,” I answered. I walked up the stone steps and held the door open for Diana. The space behind was a dark narrow hallway that forced us to go right. The floor above us creaked and there were many obnoxious noises and groans. We walked down the short narrow hallway to a counter where a tall woman walked up behind it looking over her shoulder and laughing joyfully. She was dressed provocatively with her blouse pulled below her shoulders exposing her suggestive lingerie. She wore a skirt that outrageously didn’t go past her knees and long tight stockings. I’d realized what kind of outlet this place was.  
“Look at those massive honkers,” Diana mumbled.  
“Yeah.” I peeped.  
“Hey you! Aren’t you two a bit young to be getting it on?” the woman asked in an oddly passive voice. I felt Diana grab my wrist as she turned around and tugged me along as she stormed out of the building, and even ran to the end of the block before deciding to stop. Her eyes were wide, and her cheeks were flushed as we stood in an awkward and embarrassing silence. I threw my head back and began laughing hysterically. Diana’s eyes lit up jovially and she covered her mouth.  
“Shut up! It’s not funny,” Diana muttered while trying to suppress her laughter. I felt my knees grow weak as I uncontrollably shouted my laughter down the quite streets.  
“You said,” I wheezed. “You said look at those honkers.” The hysterical feeling won her over and she burst into laughter. After several minutes of laughter my head was dizzy, and my gums began tingling. I took light breaths to collect myself. Nothing but a dim blue light filled the quiet streets, and I could barely see a thing.  
“I should’ve known it was a whorehouse,” Diana muttered with embarrassment. She shut her eyes while taking a deep breath and let out a long sigh that seemed to relieve her embarrassment. Setting her sack down she grabbed a flat box from her hoard. “Here, hold this,” she directed, holding the box out towards me.  
“Ok,” I said while taking it off her hands.   
“Can you hold this thing for me?” she asked referring to the giant sack.  
“Sure,” I replied kindly. She took the box, and I took the bag. She popped open the tin and began stuffing her mouth with her chocolate desserts.   
“Hey, can I have one?” I asked.  
“Yeah, you can have one,” she replied.  
“I think we should go to my place,” I suggested.  
“You think so? All the way out there in the woods?”  
“It’s safer than it is here,” I replied. I could see her reasoning with herself for an answer. There was a break in the blanket of clouds that let the dim moonlight cast down on us, tinting everything a pale blue.  
“I mean aren’t you poor?” she asked arrogantly but with a tone of innocence. I was somewhat insulted by her words but there was truth to them. “No, forgive me. I would gladly like to meet your parents,” she added on. I reconsidered my response.  
“It’s a different way of life,” I replied. “We don’t need money to survive.”  
“Do you know the way?” she asked. I nodded my head and began walking south. We were so far west I figured we’d have to climb the hill going east instead of west. I could see the silhouette of the gigantic hill many kilometers off in the distance. Our breath became visible when the land and the air cooled into space and we were cooled by the night air. The gigantic blanket of clouds floated off into the distance leaving a clear cold sky filled with the magnificent mural of stars. A moving star caught my attention as it drifted across the sky. It wasn’t a shooting star, it didn’t flare up, it just passively crossed the sky.  
“I’ve always wondered what those were,” I muttered. As we walked into the less vibrant lower-class side of the neighborhood.  
“What?” she asked. I pointed up into the sky at the drifting speck of light.  
“That drifting star,” I answered.   
“Oh, Birds of the Heavens,” she replied.  
“It’s not exactly a bird,” I remarked.  
“I’ll draw what it looks like,” she said.  
“How would you know what it looks like?” I asked.  
“I’ve seen one through an advanced telescope,” she answered while bending over and grabbing a small stick off the ground. She walked over to a bare patch of dirt and carved a picture into the ground. She drew a cylinder then added a log rectangular wing to one side and another rectangular wing to the other side. It was a simple cylinder with long straight rectangular wings.  
“You’re bad a drawing birds,” I remarked.  
“No. This is actually what they look like,” she said. There was something so odd about it, nothing in nature makes itself in perfect shapes. It must have been made by someone or something, but what is it for? “They circle the Earth,” she mentioned to me.

“Hello mom! Hi dad!” I called out. To my surprise Gerhart’s daughter, Olivia, was sitting at the dining room table with Emilia and my parents.  
“Oliver!” Emilia exclaimed jumping from her seat and rushing towards me with open arms.  
“Good gracious son, you’re back,” Mother exclaimed as she rose from her seat.  
“Hey,” Father said with a burst. Emilia stopped in her tracks as she looked past me.  
“Mom! There’s a stranger behind Oliver,” she exclaimed as she pointed to Diana’s foreign face.  
“Emilia, we don’t refer to people as strangers,” I scolded. She ran up to me and peeked head out from my leg to observe Diana. I walked forwards, Emilia used me as a barrier between her and Diana as she was frightened by a new face.  
“Who might you be?” mother asked politely.   
“I’m Diana,” she introduced herself with a firm voice. “How do you do?”  
“You are absolutely adorable,” mother remarked. “Come have a seat,” she directed. Mother was over the top as everyone else seemed quiet and more reserved.   
“Hello Oliver,” Olivia greeted me as I sat down next to her at the table. “Long time, no see.” Olivia was a down-to-earth girl, slightly older than me and admirably tall, towering over all of us just like her father, Gerhart. Her long hair was a very deep brown – nearly black – and her eyes were glassy, they looked like dark blue marbles as her eyes were so clean you gaze into them and stare at your reflection. She had a spotless face and a small well-rounded nose.  
“Yeah! What are you doing here?” I asked, puzzled.  
“We invited her over,” mother replied. “We were getting lonely around the place.”  
“Yeah Oliver, where have you been? Your parents told me that you were drafted,” Olivia inquired with a concerned voice.   
“Yeah,” I said with a quiet voice. “Apparently the Huns are expanding their empire and Aulganiya is under quite a daunting threat.”  
“That sounds scary, Oliver,” Olivia remarked her voice was raw and filled with concern.  
“It is,” I admitted. There was an unsettling silence that over came us as we sat in the midst of a stark reality. Everyone looked uneasy and on edge.  
“Oliver,” Mother began, breaking the silence. “It isn’t too late for us to pack up and leave Aulganiya,” her tone was thoughtful and endearing but arrogant to announce in the presence of Diana.  
“Aye,” Olivia agreed. “The hermit seems a bit too old, but my father would probably join you,” she speculated. I was suddenly under a considerable amount of internal pressure to make a decision, which was ultimately quite tempting. There was no attachment to this country and the politics, the only attachment I had was to the forest, my parents, my neighbors, and Diana. Diana stared at me with an anxious face as I sat contemplating my answer. I want to leave but I don’t want to betray her. In conflict with myself a decided to answer with the most appropriate phrase I could think of.  
“Let me think about it,” I muttered, at odds with myself. Diana’s tense shoulders eased, and she let out a breath she was holding in.  
“That’s probably what you need to do,” father agreed. “A decision like that would take some thought.”

Through my peripheral vision I saw Diana step off my porch and approach me. I turned to face her, her timid face was lit a pale blue hue in the bright starlight and her hands were nervously clenched.   
“Your answer?” she asked with a strained voice.  
“Diana,” I started, with a sincere tone. “Leave with us,” I purposed.  
“Run away?” she asked anxiously. “I have family here; I have my brothers: Henry, Lloyd, Alexandur and my sisters: Rachel, Irina, Elena, just to name a few of them and not to mention my mom and dad… I can’t leave them to whatever fate they might face alone.”   
“But this is your chance to get away from all the destruction that might ensue,” I begged pathetically.   
“No,” she declared. “Whatever destruction is coming, I’ll face it,” she stated valiantly. I had a feeling of embarrassment overcome me.  
“But it’s unstoppable,” I muttered.  
“So, we just take it laying down? Not on your life!” she scoffed. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life running and hiding like some sort of nomad, like a coward,” she said with a sensitive voice. She let out a tender breath of emotions. “I’m not going to run so you need to make that choice but just know, I’m not coming with you if you decide to leave…” I closed my eyes with frustration and turmoil. I didn’t know what choice I was supposed to make, how could I? I just felt ashamed. “If you do decide to, I won’t tell anyone,” she said sincerely, knowing desertion was punishable by death.  
Diana left me to go back inside and I was alone with my thoughts. “Gods,” I muttered in vexation. I felt my eyes water and I wiped away the teardrops before taking some deep inhales. 

I sat up on the sofa and stepped out of my blankets. My feet were bare, and my eyesight was still a blur. I stumbled to my feet and looked to the stairway with groggy eyes before I marched up the steps to see if Diana had gotten up. I stopped at my open door to see an empty bed in the dim morning light. I pushed the door open further to see is she was out of my sight but there was no one inside.  
I rushed downstairs and looked around the house in a frightful panic. My search eventually led me onto the porch where I saw her tracks on the lawn, which disrupted the early morning dew. They went from the porch and trailed into the edge of the woods. I rushed back inside my heart racing, I slipped on my stiff leather boots and leaped out of the door without even bothering to tie them. I raced across the lawn and into the dark woods, not long after, spotting Diana through the trees.  
“Diana,” I called out as I sprinted towards her. I stopped in front of her catching my breath. “I’ll stay,” I huffed through my erratic panting. She had a look of astonishment on her face as I stood before her.

Mogyear 

(several weeks after the draft)


	4. day

CHAPTER 9: Day

A black void surrounds me, I see nothing at all, I have no thoughts. Before me there stands a magnificent black tree outlined by a dim purple light. It looked as if it was ripped from the ground as its roots hung down.  
The branches suddenly warped themselves into a tall slender figure. The roots divided themselves into two long legs and the branches warped into long slender arms. The strange, withered creature hunched in front of me, its skinny horned head had two glowing purple eyes staring into me.   
A faint voice called my name, it seemed so muffled and distant but yet it felt so close to me. A hand grabbed my shoulder and shook me. I slowly opened my eyes to see Diana standing over me.  
“Come on, sleepy head. You’re late! Time to wake up,” she ordered, frankly. My stiff limbs suddenly felt jolted with energy and I threw my blankets off of me. With a terrifying sense of urgency, I sat up and pulled on my long socks.  
“Come on! I’m going to be late again,” I groaned with frustration especially towards myself.  
“It’s not my fault,” she said with vexation. “You’re the one who never gets up on time.” I pulled on my grey woolen trousers, slipped on my overcoat, and sloppily tied my boots before dashing from the tent. I sprinted through the mud towards the stables where a large group of rookies had concentrated. There were about three dozen of them.  
Levine was among them at the center handling a brownish-red horse by the reins. I weaved through the bystanders towards the front of the group.  
“This is a mare,” Levine lectured. He brushed at her mane with a thick comb. “She’s been broken. Her name is Flacără and she’s a lovely, tamed girl.” Levine stroked her mane once more with a steady hand. “You shouldn’t have a problem mounting her but be careful where you step, she’s prone to stepping on your feet.” She shook her head and let out a huff. Diana weaved her way through the crowd and stepped up next to me. “Any volunteers who want to mount her?” Levine asked. A moment later about a dozen soldiers stepped forward and out of curiosity I too stepped into line.  
“You were late today,” Levine remarked as I stepped forward. I nervously bit my lip as I stepped forward.  
“I’m sorry Major Levine,” I apologized anxiously.  
“Don’t be late again,” he replied, frankly. He guided me to Flacără, and he directed me to place my hand on the horn of the saddle and I raised my foot to try and get it in the stirrup, but I was a few inches short of getting my foot in. A soldier behind me buoyantly laughed at me. I was overcome with a little bit of embarrassment as I tried to hop on my right leg. Levine grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up. I slid my foot into the stirrup and kicked my leg over and sat firmly in the stiff saddle. I dismounted from the same side and almost got my foot caught in the stirrup as I stepped down.  
Levine led Flacără back to the stable and walked out leading an unruly adolescent black horse by the reins. It frantically jumped on its hind legs acting aggressive towards Levine who was careful enough to dodge it’s swinging hooves. “Easy boy,” Levine ordered. It finally calmed down and stood restlessly in the open mud pit. Levine let out a relieved sigh and lowered his shoulders. “Now this is a stallion, his name is Măslin and he has not been broken yet,” Levine informed. Măslin shook his head, unraveling his black mane and jumped up on his hind legs before calming down. “Any volunteers?” Levine asked with a sly tone as if he was not expecting a brave soul to step forward.  
I had no reason to step forward but when I looked at Diana something urged me to step forward and impress her. I wanted to prove I had guts. She looked over at me and we stared into each other’s eyes for several uneasy moments. I jerked my head forward and stepped forward with an uneasy feeling in my gut. Levine gave me a surprised glance as I stepped forward.  
“I volunteer,” I said with a shaky voice. He tossed me a leather cap with a chin strap attached to it. I fitted the soft leather helmet onto my head and tucked the strap under my chin. Măslin huffed and shook his head giving me a scare. Levine handed me the reins and I nervously placed my shaky right hand on the horn of the saddle and walked around to his other side. I carefully placed my foot in the stirrup, with a deep breath and sudden urge of adrenalin I stood up and kicked my leg over. Măslin suddenly bucked up onto his hind legs almost throwing me back. I threw myself upward trying to stay on and was whacked in the diaphragm with the horn of the saddle. There was a sharp pain in my chest and I was unable to breathe. He kicked up on his forelegs making my feet slip out of the stirrups and roughly land in the stiff saddle before he kicked up on his front legs again and bucked me off. In a moment faster than a few seconds I flew through the air flailing my arms and I landed on my back in the slimy puddle of mud. A sharp pain shot through my frozen limbs with shock and the crowd of men vocalized an OUH as I smacked against the soupy ground. I laid there trying to breathe but my diaphragm felt stuck as I laid there petrified with shock and fear.  
Diana collapsed to her knees with bolstering laughter and even collapsed onto her back. My diaphragm finally let up and I was able to take a breath as I slipped the cap off my head. Someone reached their hand out towards me. A mid sized blonde man with curly hair helped me to my feet. His eyes were a hazel-green and he had dark lips.  
“Thanks,” I wheezed.  
“No problem. I’m Grayson,” he said.  
“Oliver,” I gasped. The thick mud clung to the back of my uniform and clung to my hair. My hands and fingers were caked with the slimy mud as it laid between my fingers and under my nails. I caught a glimpse of Măslin rushing back into the stables with his reins dangling through the mud. I wiped my filthy hands on my pants as I tried to shuffle into the crowd. Diana climbed to her feet, wiping tears from her eyes as she attempted to restrain her laughter. Part of her sleeve and her skirt had clung to some mud when she collapsed from hysterical laughter. The rest of the training session went on as I had an uneasy feeling of embarrassment surrounding me. Levine attempted to teach us simple commands and tricks to riding horses, but I did not listen to him intently.  
By about four o’clock in the afternoon the rather boring session finally ended, and the irksome mud had partially dried to my back, to my hands and to my hair. I awkwardly rushed out of the base and to the Ogosta River where I could clean up. I pulled off my crusty uniform as I slipped down the steep grassy bank into the shallow rocky edge of the stream. The cold water felt soothing upon my boiling feet and ankles as I stood in the strong shallow current. I looked across the wide river – about twenty meters across – to the leaning trees on the other side of the bank. Water is the most curious thing, it drips from the sky, makes small creaks which run into ponds and lakes and pour out into rivers and streams, but where does it come from? Where does it go?  
“A bit cold for a swim,” Diana remarked as she marched down the steep grassy bank with a towel tucked under her arm and a hairbrush clutched in her left hand. I looked back across the deep throbbing waves. Though I was slightly annoyed by her presence I did not mind the company.  
“Where does all this water go?” I asked. Diana gazed at me curiously as she walked into the shallow water.  
“All this should go to the Black Sea,” she replied. I marched towards the depths until I had sunken waist deep into the chilling water. Diana sat on the bank and scrubbed away her uniform. I held my thick wool coat under the water and scrubbed at it with my fingernails. “When summer rolls around this place will be delightful to swim in,” Diana speculated.  
“I don’t know how to swim,” I muttered.  
“That’s a shame. Swimming is quite a rewarding activity,” she mentioned to me with a hint of insight in her voice. There was a brief pause as we scrubbed away at our uniforms before she divulged her experience. “I used to live in a city by the coast and after we were dismissed from boarding school, everyone would race to the beach, stripping off all their clothes and jumping into the sea,” she said with a warm nostalgic voice. I rubbed at the back of my legs with my fist. “I was quite a good swimmer, better than all the girls actually and in line with the boys.” She stared off into space with dreamy eyes. “Even the ravishing older beach-boys noticed me.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “They were so strong and handsome.” I let out a brief jealous sigh as I rang out my uniform. “Only if they were rich like all the other fat ugly hogs, I would definitely ask to marry them.”  
“Isn’t marriage a partnership between someone you have a bond with?” I inquired, thinking about the attitude between mom and father. Mother never mentioned money at all, they both just wanted to raise me and Emilia and make each other happy. “My parents never speak of wealth, only happiness. Someone shouldn’t love someone just because they’re strong or wealthy.”  
“It worked out well for my mother,” Diana replied. “She was– She was a –,” Diana had a sour face of disgust.  
“What?”  
“You’d think lowly of me if I told you,” Diana muttered.  
“Nonsense,” I refuted. Diana let out a groan of discomfort.  
“Tch. Fine, she was… a mistress,” she mumbled with an unmerited guilt. “But instead of being a delusory romantic, she was smart and now she has a warm place to sleep with my father and her three children.”  
“I thought you had thirteen siblings?”  
“I do. Eleven of them are my half siblings,” she replied.  
“How many times has your father been married?” I asked politely.  
“Three times,” she muttered. “The first one died. The second one was a noble, but she had bad blood.”  
“Bad blood?” I asked to clarify.   
“You know… Diseases…” Diana brushed at her short hair. “They had several children that had defects and issues because my father has hemophilia, and she was a carrier. One simple cut and it’s a nightmare to stop the bleeding.” I looked over at Diana as I shook the dirt out of my hair.  
“If your dad has hemophilia then, aren’t you a carrier?” I asked. Diana looked at me as if she had never thought of it.  
“How do you know so much about hemophilia?”  
“My mother was always concerned she was a carrier, even before, I remember her talking about it, before they decided to have another child. They were so thankful that Emilia was a girl,” I replied. “I don’t have it and neither did Michael.”  
“Michael?”  
“My brother who passed. He’d be 31 by now,” I muttered with a low voice.  
“I suppose I am a carrier for the disease,” Diana mumbled to herself with a stark realization.  
“Then you’ll pass it on to your–,”  
“I know,” she snapped. “I’ll have to worry about giving my children a disease, for the rest of my life.” Her voice trembled and her tone had become distressed and anxious. “I can’t seem to escape this cursed blood in my veins.” Her face grew blush as she tightened the flesh around her watery eyes. I trudged over to her with a feeling of guilt since I had provoked her panic. “Do you know what my classmates used to say to me?”  
“What?” I asked as I sat on the grassy bank beside her.  
“Diana; daughter of a whore who fucked a noble,” she muttered with pain and disgust, “Gods I wish I were never born into this world.” Come to think of it, it was the first time I ever heard someone wish they were never born. I was so bewildered I did not know what to say so I just sat in silence. Diana held her sleeve up to her face and wiped away some of her tears.  
“Come on now, you can’t honestly think like that?” I asked with my naïve arrogance. My inability to formulate an appropriate response clearly demonstrated my inexperience to respond to this kind of distress. Diana attempted to convincingly laugh but it was a poor act.  
“What am I crying for?” she asked in a low mumble as she rubbed her face with her sleeve. “Gods, this is so embarrassing. Can you just pretend this never happened?” she asked in a dissatisfied tone. I keenly nodded.  
“Yeah,” I muttered. I stood up and marched back into the river to clean off the rest of my uniform. How could someone wish they were never born? I looked over my shoulder and stared at her peaceful face.

CHAPTER 10: Challenge 

[maybe this subplot is stupid. It might be changed to get Levine’s journal as a challenge]  
[better idea for this subplot: Diana’s family suspects that Levine is Hans because Hans disappeared around the same time Levine became a cadet in the Aulganiyan army.]

"So, Anna why did your family send you here?" I asked in response. Anna sat and twiddled her thumbs for several seconds as she seemed to stare off into space.   
"Well, I was told I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I TRUST you to keep this secret," Diana's voice had become a loud whisper and she leaned in my direction. I walked over to Diana and sat next to her on her cot.   
"Okay," I muttered.   
"My family is really, really suspicious of Major Levine-"   
"What!? Why?"   
"Because all the red flags," Diana whispered. "There are several recovered documents given to us from a neighboring country. They found a lot of detailed reports about our bases. One of them was about the status the base here in Mohtaha and I mean look at him he's suspicious as heck."   
"Yeah, he's weird in all but there's nothing suspicious," I refuted.   
"His records Oliver, his records."   
"What about them?"   
"He appeared out of nowhere 13 years ago and he's really jumped the ranks."   
"If he's been in service for so long doesn't that prove his loyalty," I asked.   
"I don't know, what if he could be a spy with long investment? He's got no registered parents, no birthdate, no place of birth and not even a last name,"   
"Huh? Isn't Levine his last name."   
"Can you tell me his first name?" I sat scratching my head trying to think of a name. I could've sworn I'd heard it before, but I couldn't think of it.   
"No, I can't." I replied. "Then what is his last name if he doesn't have a first name?"   
"Levine isn't even his first name apparently it's his middle name."   
"Huh. That's weird," I muttered.   
"Yeah, I know it's weird," Diana replied and she let out a frustrated sigh while falling back into her cot and staring up at the tent canvas. "And I'm certain he's onto me already." Diana let out another long-troubled sigh. "I'm just a kid, it's not like I can do anything. The Major is a genius compared to me."   
"Then why did you get sent?" I asked.   
"My family wanted to send someone much more capable, but my brother Henry insisted I go instead."   
"Well, if what you say is true then all you need is some proof." I replied. My heart began to race with excitement and anxiety.   
"What proof could there be?" Diana asked.   
"I don't know. Maybe if we spy on the spy." I slyly replied. A mischievous grin sprouted on Diana's face as she cupped her hands together.   
"Now we're talking. I say we get a hold of his journal."   
"Yeah, that small thing has got to have something in it," I replied. Diana let out a sly laugh. A feeling of doubt grew in my gut.   
"I'd feel kind of bad if he was innocent this whole time," I said. There was an unsettling silence for a few moments.   
"Think of it this way. If we can't find anything, we're proving his innocence. "   
"Sure."   
"Well let's make a plan then..." 

[insert elaborate plan you spent hours working on here:]

“Well, Levine doesn’t get back at his office till 7,” Diana informed.  
“Yes, but don’t we leave training at the same time?”   
“I suppose we need to find a way to convince Jakab to be dismissed early.”

[insert sneaking in here or whenever you feel like it, you lazy prick]

My heart stopped hearing the terrifying footsteps in the hallway. The drumming on the wooden floor echoed in the hallway and hair on the back of my neck and arms stood higher with each distant step. In a mode of panic, I looked to Diana as I tried to think of a plan. Her face was pale, and she too was wide eyed and frozen in fear. Oh my god what do we do? We're screwed! My body shook in terror to the sounds of the constant steps closing in and getting louder and louder. My knees shook and felt so weak I marveled to the fact I hadn't collapsed. I looked around desperately trying to find a place to hide. My forehead grew hot and began to sweat. My skin felt cold, sharp prickly feelings stabbed me in random places as I was beginning to sweat all over.   
"Oh my god we're going to die!" Diana muttered.   
"Anna what do we do?!" I vocalized. Diana held her hand up to her mouth as she began to hyperventilate. She sauntered towards me, opening her arms clutching me between them. I was smothered as she squeezed me. Her face grew pink and cringed as tears ran down her face. I came to quite a realization that Diana wasn’t just scared of Levine, she was absolutely terrified.   
"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!" Diana peeped.   
"Shut up!"   
The footsteps suddenly stopped. I looked to the door and I could tell someone was standing right behind it. My heart sank as the doorknob shook in its place. That's right it's locked! Suddenly a muffled feminine voice began to speak in the hallway. The sound of Levine's voice replied to the speaker. I quickly came to my senses and scanned the room looking for a potential place to hide. I spotted a door to my right and half of my tension melted away.   
"The shoe closet." Diana looked up at me wide-eyed; she quickly released me, and we rushed over to the small door. I stealthily opened the door ajar and slid into the small dark space with Diana close behind. I slowly closed the creaky door. We hunched over to fit in the tiny space as we stood on top of shoes. Diana cramped my space as she stood in front of me. I cleared a space on the floor of boots with my foot. I pressed my back against the wall and sat down. Diana rudely planted herself on my thighs, her weight pinned my legs against the floor.   
"Hey, how do we know he's not going to come in here?!" She asked in a faint voice.   
I shrug my shoulders and say in a hushed undertone. "Anna you're crushing my legs!"   
"Well, I'm sorry! There's nowhere else to sit," she muttered defensively. She then leans back rudely pushing me against the wall like I was a cushion or chair.  
"Oi-"   
The office door suddenly opened, and we heard Levine’s footsteps march across the office. My heart raced and I was frozen unwilling to move a single muscle. Minutes pass and neither one of us does a single thing but breathe. I could feel the intensity of Diana’s racing heart. It felt like there was a tiny man inside her hammering away at her spine.  
"Oh my God! What do you have in your pocket?"  
"It's nothing." I murmured.  
"Why are you looking at me like that?"   
"Forget it," I muttered.  
I leaned forward and peeked through the hourglass shaped lock. Levine was sitting at his desk with his legs propped up as he read the several documents in his hands. He tilted his head back and stood up from his seat.   
"Jakab, were you in my office?" Levine hollered. He walked around his desk and walked out of the office. The moment I heard the knob click I waited several seconds listening intently. Levine began talking to Jakab. I flung the door open and jogged to the office door and slowly locked the door. My heart raced as I looked for an exit.   
"The window!" Diana muttered.   
"Oh yeah!" Diana jogged to the curtain and threw up the blinds and lifted the creaky window. The wood screeched loudly as it was thrown up. Oh no! That is not going to go unnoticed! The muffled talking in the hallway stopped.   
"They're onto us!" The sound of footsteps closed in from the hall. I dashed to the desk, flung open the drawer, and pulled out the leather file case. The doorknob quivered in place and I heard the jingle of keys. I dashed to the window. Diana had her legs out of the window when the office door suddenly burst open. Levine stepped into the room with a furious look on his face. He instantly looked dumbfounded as he looked back and forth between me and Diana.   
"Wha-," Diana quickly launched herself out of the window and into the lawn. I reached my right leg through the window and ducked my head under the window. I was on a collision course towards Diana with my arms full and Diana laying in the path of my fall.   
"Anna!" Suddenly a hand grabbed my left ankle from inside the office preventing my escape. My ankle felt like it was being crushed with the force of a vice. Levine was relentless as his grip kept tightening.   
"What the hell are you two doing!?" Levine shouted angrily. I threw the files on the ground.   
"Anna Just take the papers and RUN!" I called out. Levine yanked me back and held my arms against the outer walls of the office fighting against the sheer strength of Levine pulling me back.   
"No Oliver I can't leave you behind!" Diana cried out.   
"Don't be silly! Now's your chance to run! I'll hold them off,"   
"You're the one being silly! He's going to kill you!"   
"Diana if you run, I swear I will find you and I will personally make sure you regret it!" Levine threatened. Several soldiers ran out of their tents to observe us. I pushed forward trying to slip out of Levine's grip. Levine suddenly let go and I flew out of the window flying right towards Diana. Our foreheads slammed together, and a searing pain went through my head and my body went limp. A grey blob obscured my eyesight as my face laid in the grass. I laid there with a fuzzy feeling in my head and my forehead began to pulse with a sharp pain. I rolled off Diana onto my back.   
"Ouch," I mumbled. I saw Levine climb out the window with Jakab following him. My eyesight was still hazy, so they were just giant blurs. The major stood over us and let out a long sigh.   
"Get up," Levine ordered. We sat up on our knees. We didn't dare make eye-contact with him. "Where do I begin with you two!?" Levine paced back and forth in front of us. "Gods! This is so embarrassing. Everyone Clear THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND GET BACK TO YOUR TENTS!" Levine ordered the bystanders. "Diana, I expected no less from you, but Oliver, what are you doing?!" My pits began to sweat as Levine put me on the spot. "This isn't some fucking game you two." Levine walked up to both of us and firmly grabbed our collars and dragged us through the field and all the way to the gate. "If you kids can't grow up LEAVE! Now both of you GET OUT." I jolted from his scream. He swung his arm pointing towards the gate.  
"GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK TILL EVENING TOMORROW!!"   
We both looked up at Levine with confused faces. "I SAID GET OUT!"   
I got to my feet and shamefully walked out of the base looking down. The gate slammed behind us and I could hear Levine grumble under his breath while walking away. I looked back to the base and saw Diana on her knees with her upper body lying on the wall-bench. I slowly approached her as she appeared to be breathing intensely.   
"Anna," I peeped. Her hands were pulling at her hair.   
"What?" She wheezed with distress.   
"Are you ok?"   
"I'm going to be sick," Diana wheezed. She put a hand on her stomach and her panting intensified. "I might puke."   
Diana hunched on the ground on her elbows and knees with her back arched into the air.   
I heard Diana regurgitate and the shortly after the foul fluid poured from her mouth onto the ground whilst Diana grunted vile noises. She spat several times while continuing to breathe intensely. She arched her back, threw her head forward and let out a nauseating groan before puking again. My stomach churned from the sight of it and I looked away covering my nose. Diana continued to pant, and she continued to spit and spit and spit.   
"Are you feeling any better?" I asked. Diana nodded her head. She stood up wiping her mouth with her sleeve.   
"I'm going to be ok," she peeped. Diana lousily got to her feet. "It's cold out where are we going to sleep?"   
"Maybe we can walk back to my place," I suggested.   
"How far is that walk?"   
"About 8 kilometers. It should take us two hours,"   
"Ok. Let's go, I'm starting to get cold." It was a cloudless night and a crescent moon casted a dim eerie light onto the cobblestone road. The roads were empty, too empty it seemed. I was too familiar with the crowded streets of day but now we had the road all to ourselves.   
"It's still really cold out," Diana remarked.   
"Yeah..." I replied. "We're probably going to be sick tomorrow."   
"Tomorrow... God, I'm going to be terrified to come back tomorrow." Her voice cracked. She looked uneasy at the thought and I too became a little anxious. "How are we going to explain this to him?"   
"Yeah, how are we going to give him his journal back?"   
"Journal!?"   
"Don't think we got away empty handed. I've got it in my pocket." I reached into my lower right coat pocket and pulled out the shabby black book. Diana's eyes lit up with incredulity.   
"Wha... How did you get it?" She stammered.   
"I swiped it in the office." I opened the book and flipped through all the pages, a good third of the pages were still empty. I flipped to a random page and squinted at the dark illegible scribbles on the page. "Mm... We're going to have to get to my place to read it, it's not bright enough out here."   
"I have a good feeling about this," Diana mischievously chuckled. We crossed the bridge going over the Ogosta River.   
"Hey, let's turn left and go to the reservoir," I suggested. We turned and walked up the street that ran parallel to the river. The reservoir was a dark mirror reflecting the stars and the moon perfectly.   
"How fetching. It's so calm and so peaceful." Diana remarked. I gazed at the peninsula that jut out into the reservoir. It was a small hill reaching out of the water and standing high above the bank.   
"There's something about that hill..."   
"I agree." Diana replied. “We’ve got to check it out sometime.” We journeyed onto the dirt road that led south towards my place. Diana persistently dragged her feet and I had felt like we we’re going to make it before dawn.  
“What’s taking you so long?” I impatiently asked. Diana gave me a menacing glare as if she were about to explode.  
“I’m having some difficulty here,” she said in an annoyed tone. “I’m having women problems.”  
“What?” I turned to her. She wasn’t making any sense at the time. “I don’t get what you mean.”  
“I’ve got cramps OK!” she barked.  
“Cramps? Have you been exercising or something?” I asked in a dismissive tone.  
“Are you daft?” she asked with a sour attitude. “You know…” She rolled her eyes. “That thing…”  
“Thing?”   
“YEAH!” she nearly shouted. “That thing that happens every month.”  
“Uh… The full moon?” I guessed.  
“No, you ass! Oh my god! I am going to smack you!” she replied with an absolutely fed-up voice. “Are you playing dumb?” she asked, jerking her head towards me.  
“N-no,” I refuted in a state of complete confusion.  
“I can’t stand you at the moment! This is just a warning, expect me to be this crabby for a few days every month!” she declared.   
“Ok then,” I peeped.  
“Listen Oliver,” She snarked. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you’d have just done a better job making a plan.”  
“I-”  
“It’s your fault for getting us caught!” There was a chill that traveled across my outer skin and I didn’t know how to reply. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try. Ultimately, I just took a deep breath and let out a long sigh that melted away the dark cloud hanging over my head.  
We marched at a snails’ pace up the dirt road to the hill. Diana especially dragged her feet on our hike up the hill. I was annoyed by my lack of insight, I wanted to know what the heck was going on, but Diana refused to directly say.  
Maybe all women just get cranky once a month.  
“Hey,” she called out, before planting herself down on a tree stump. “I’m gonna take a rest.” I walked over and patiently sat down next to her. A sudden lone howl echoed through the brisk night air from a long distance away. Its noise was so distorted from the distance at first, I thought it was a ghost. When it cried out from the distance, it startled us both, making our limbs freeze up and erect all the hairs on our skin. Our tired hearts began to race ceaselessly in our chests as we stared at the hill that linked to the south, not even letting out a mere peep.  
“Wolf?” Diana asked in a hushed whisper.  
“Yeah,” I replied. I slowly got to my feet, keeping my eyes and my body fixed toward the direction of the ghostly howl. Diana instinctively did the same as me. I stepped to my side and walked sideways up the hill keeping my eyes fixed.  
“Will it come for us?” she whispered.  
“It’s not likely it would come for us but let’s be weary. It could wander anywhere, it’s not likely it’ll come across us,” I whispered.  
“Okay,” she acknowledged with a ‘I’ll take your word for it’ type of attitude. A cold chill rippled through my spine as I looked into the dark forest. There was quite an uneasy feeling in me, I remembered the Jinn from that one night and just the frightening darkness of the forest made me reluctant to enter.  
Somehow, I managed to muster up the courage to walk into the woodland of darkness, where creatures of my imagination lurked and sulked around in the shadows where I could not see and as long as I remained blinded by the darkness, I could not convince myself they were illusions of my inner fears. Monsters in the darkness. They never strike and yet they relentlessly torture you with the vivid illusion of their existence.  
A sight of great relief appeared ahead in the form of a candlelight in the window of a cabin. I was suddenly relieved with the sense of familiarity the surrounding trees gave me as I walked past the yard, up the steps and to the door. Without even thinking of any words, I knocked upon the door. There was nothing at first but then a rumble rushed to the door and it opened to the sight of mother and father standing behind her, on the other side.  
"Hello mom. Hello father," I greeted. Mother swooped in giving me a giant bearhug.   
"Welcome home Oliver," Mother replied, her voice was ecstatic. She looked to Diana. "Hi," Mother greeted her with a welcoming attitude.   
"How do you do Mrs. Harris," Diana replied in a sweet but formal tone.   
"Exemplary today," Mother replied. As mother went to compliment Diana, I approached my Father.   
"Hi Father," I said in a low voice.  
"How's it been Oliver?"   
"Well," I stammered. He slightly tilted his head back and scratched his hairy chin. "It's been hard."   
"It's quite the journey from town." Father addressed. A muffled voice called my name from upstairs followed by little footsteps on the floor above marching all the way to the stairs.  
“Oliver!” Emilia called out again, as she sprinted down the stairway clutching her rabbit in her elbow.  
“Hey,” I said, crouching down as she ran towards me with open arms. I scooped her up and held her tightly against me for a good second. She stepped back and bounced up and down on her toes as she waved frantically at Diana.  
“Hey Diana! Hey Diana!” she called out ecstatically.  
“Hello Emilia,” Diana replied with a nervous rumble in her timid voice.  
“You finally brought Oliver back,” she cried innocently.  
“I wish we could stay,” Diana replied.  
"Would you like anything to eat?" Mother offered. I shook my head.   
"No, we just want to get to bed," I replied. Mother looked to Diana indirectly asking for a response. Diana nodded her head before she spoke.   
"Yeah..."   
"Well alright," Mother replied in an annoyed tone. "I haven't seen both of you in weeks and you come up here and ask to sleep as soon as possible." Diana let out a laugh. I rushed to the stairway and jogged up the steps as Diana followed close behind. I rushed to my door throwing it open and stepping into my room. To my pleasure everything was left the way I'd kept it.   
"This is a cozy place you have here," Diana remarked.  
"I miss it up here," I replied. "I love this place." I sauntered over to my wooden desk-chair and briefly examined the layer of dust that covered everything. I took a seat, hunched over, unlaced my boots, and slipped them off. I pulled off my uniform and placed it on the chair. I lit the ceiling lantern with a match and the lanterns on the walls all around the room.   
"I haven’t slept in a proper bed in ages," Diana declared. She returned to her spunky self again. Her expression was bright and there was no sign of shame or humiliation in her demeanor. “Come on! Hurry up! Let's read the journal.”  
I felt the thick shabby journal in my coat pocket. Part of me didn’t want to look in it, part of me had too much respect for the Major I didn’t want to double-cross him like that, but my curiosity got the best of me and I shamefully pulled it out from my pocket. Diana was on the edge of my bed frame, her leg bouncing up and down like the head of a woodpecker trying to chisel away at my floor. Her eyes fixed upon the black journal in my hand and a dirty little grin planted across her face.   
My perception of Diana had changed in my mind and it wasn’t for the better. Her reputation had been somewhat tarnished in my eyes. I was puzzled how she didn’t show any regret or shame. No, it’s not true. I too should have shame and regret for doing this, but I am ashamed, I am regretful.   
As I sat down next to Diana, I folded the book open, sliding my thumb on the pages as they uniformly slipped across my thumbnail and perfectly restacked themselves. I flipped to a page relatively close to the beginning and laid the binding on my leg. The entire page was filled to the brim with words written with black ink, the letters looked like they were written by an amateur as they were sloppy and unprofessional. Written at the top of the page:  
March 6th Year 511,  
“My god... Over 14 years ago,” Diana remarked.  
While training today I met someone, and she doesn’t have a name. She is homeless and starving. I gave her my bread rations. I don’t know what to do. She barely speaks and says to me that she’s too old to live in the orphanage. She’s too frail to meet the fitness requirement for the military. If I give her rations, I think I can save her life.  
April 6th Year 511  
The girl I met; I named her Rayna. I feel bad for her. part of me shamefully wants to abandon her, she’s causing me a great deal of stress. Gods! If only the trainer wasn’t such a prick, I’d have some free time to myself.  
No, I shouldn’t abandon her it’d be wrong.  
May 6th Year 511

[insert filler] 

March 6th Year 525  
Finally, something interesting happened last month. A naïve little girl was sent here by her family. I can’t believe she thinks she’s competent enough to go and find the Merchant Warrior. Gods I just didn’t like her sulking around in camp. She found a peculiar boy and somehow convinced him to visit our bootcamp. How unbelievable.  
He was awkward, definitely lacking in any social interactions. That night we talked, and he told me that he had dreams about demons. Finally, it might have taken 15 years, but I finally found one person who’d also had dreams of demons. I tried to say some inspiring words to get him to join but he left before I woke up and presumably went home.   
I don’t think he came by with the intent of joining. I think he might of had some bizarre fantasy that included Diana and some unspeakable things. Of course, he doesn’t realize that people can notice where he looks. Gods! People raised in isolation have no self-awareness.  
“Is this true?” she interrogated.   
“No!” I refuted.  
“So, you were just checking me out? There’s no way I’d ever give someone like you a chance,” Diana rudely stated.  
“Wow. That’s mean! I said no, jeez you don’t have to insult me further. Why are you attacking me like that?”  
“Shut up and read!” Diana ordered. I reluctantly shut my mouth and looked back at the pages.  
I think this raises a greater issue that female officers should not wear skirts. Gods! They’re so short you can see their ankles! You can nearly see their knees! How outrageous! I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a law banning all skirts that don’t reach past one’s knees – I think we should; to prevent having swarms of young men wandering through our gates trailing our female officers.

[insert Levine's faithful background]

I rolled around in my bed absorbing the sweet sensation of nostalgia. It had felt like eons since I’d slept in a proper comfy bed. As I rolled on my side I pressed up against a warm unfamiliar mass. Diana grumbled under her breath, her tone was so low, and my mind was still half asleep that I could not make out a single thing she said – nor did I care.  
I had not opened my eyes yet and I stared into a vast void of emptiness. I had realized Diana had pushed me to the far side of the bed and I was rudely pressed against into the corner, almost slipping in-between the mattress and the wall of the cabin. I tried to scootch my way back toward the center of my bed, but Diana did not willingly budge.  
“Hey scooch over, will you!” I mumbled. She let out an annoyed groan before rolling over and slipping out from the blankets and roughly smacking against the floor. I let out a hysterical laugh as I climbed out of the crevasse. Diana sat up with a bewildered yet drowsy look on her face with her hand pressed up against the back of her head. She climbed back into the slim bed and while I laughed hysterically, she forcefully pressed her foot against my hip and shoved me back into the corner.  
“Move your fat ass,” she grumbled. I crawled out from the crevasse once more and planted myself over her and began making obnoxious and erratic breathing sounds directly into her ear. She let out ‘groans of increasing discomfort’ before firmly whacking me in the face with a lousy hand. “EW!” she cried with disgust. “Don’t ever do that again!”  
“That’s what you get,” I replied. Diana threw her arm in the air and slapped the back of my neck making my skin suddenly sting and come under a tingling sensation. “OUCH,” I yelped.   
“And that’s what you get,” Diana replied in a snobby voice. I pressed my weight down on her back and continued my idiotic incursion on Diana’s ear with a bit more nonsensical noises as I puffed out my cheeks and made an obnoxious buzzing sound with my lips which I directed into Diana’s ear. She attempted to shrug her head in-between her shoulders to escape my wrath.  
“EEEHhhHHhh sTOp!” She screeched. “Stop that! It tickles!” Diana cried hysterically I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying as she thrashed around wildly kicking her feet. “Oliver, stop! I’m not in the mood!” Diana twisted her torso sideways and elbowed me in the jaw. I was suddenly overcome with a stinging sensation in my tongue as a faint taste of blood covered my tastebuds. Not even a moment later a hard knuckle struck my nose making my head spin and my vision blur. A pulsing pain shot through my face as I sat up in a daze. “Get off of me! You’re hurting my legs!” Diana barked. I eagerly got off of her and slipped into the crevasse once more.  
I grasped my face – especially my nose – as I observed Diana slip out of the covers and onto the floor. She sat on her knees as she snatched a corner of my blanket and cleaned the particles of spit out of her ‘decimated’ ear.  
“Anna,” I muttered.  
“Shut up!” she interrupted me before I could finish. “Shut up! Shut up!” she barked aggressively. She cradled her lower hip with her arms. “Get me a towel,” Diana ordered. “I’m bleeding.”  
I stood up out of my bed and sauntered over to my dresser that loudly creaked as I pulled it open. I quickly grabbed an old shirt that I had outgrown, and I tossed it over to Diana who had easily snatched it out of the air. “I need you to leave!”  
“Why would I leave?” I asked.  
“Because I don’t want you to see!”  
“See what?”  
“I said leave!” Diana quickly snatched Levine’s Journal off my desk and threw it at me nearly striking me in the head. I quickly turned around to escape the room with no further questions. One my boots flew past my ear and bounced off the wall as quickly stepped out of my room slamming the door behind me.   
What the heck is going on? I asked myself. I took a steady deep breath to shake off this ‘hurt’ that I felt. I could not explain it, I did not want to feel hurt, but I just could not shake off a feeling of worthlessness. “Anyway,” I said to myself, “women are confusing… You go on one date and you get this funny feeling you’re never going to see them again.”  
A considerable amount of time passed by as I waited outside of my room and there was no response or noise coming from inside. I tapped my knuckle on the door. No response. I tapped a few more times. Nothing. I cracked the door open and poked my head through, Diana was curled up on my bed sleeping soundly. I walked in relieved, I picked up Levine’s journal off the ground and set it down on my desk.  
In the inside I always figured Levine was a good person, Diana too. I think we were just so excited about the challenge of getting it that we had become obsessed.   
I realized here was nothing I could do in my room. There was no point going back to sleep, the bed was an occupied fortress that a million men couldn’t storm. Who am I kidding? I left my place of comfort and walked downstairs into the large living space that appeared empty. I wandered around the property in the early morning light, to the barn and to the smelly chickens in their coop.  
Who knows? This might be the last time I ever see this place, I told myself. When I got back to the house a few hours had passed and mom had made it downstairs like the morning person she was, she didn’t need tea in the morning.  
“Well, you’re up early,” she remarked. “I guess there’s a first time for everyone.” I laughed it off trying not to be too serious. “Well, no. From the sound of it, I think Diana might have booted you to the couch.”  
“Mom, she’s my squad leader we’re not a couple,” I declared with embarrassment in my voice. “Besides Diana isn’t my type.”  
“Nonsense,” Mother stated. “You’ll grow to appreciate each other’s company.” I shook my head and laughed under my breath.  
“Now that’s impossible,” I replied facetiously while trying not to grin as well. “I don’t know if I’ll ever like this girl. Plus, she’s kind of – No – She’s WAY out of my league,” I replied hopelessly – not that there was much to begin with.  
“My poor boy,” Mother said sympathetically. “I guess it didn’t help that we raised you in isolation either,” she acknowledged in a guilty and regretful tone. “But taught you to be a kind soul,” she stated positively.  
“Kind? I have my doubts,” I replied.   
“Oh, stop it Oliver, you’re just too hard on yourself sometimes, don’t beat yourself up.” mother declared. I laughed at her reply. I’ll never stop being hard on myself, I told myself.  
“I will,” I lied.  
“That’s my boy,” she boasted. There was rumble from upstairs and Diana walked downstairs in all her majestic beauty and glory: bags under her eyes, bedhead, and a menacing scowl. You could call it the Entry of the Valkyries into the Livingroom.   
“Good morning Diana,” mother said with a sweet voice.  
“Morning Mrs. Harris,” Diana said softly.  
“It sounded like a wrestling match up there,” mother remarked, clearly crossing over her boundaries. I felt my face blush.  
“It was nothing.” Diana replied dismissively.  
“Yeah. The bed was just too small,” I added on with clear awkwardness in my voice. There was a role of thunder off in the pale blue sky.

There was an unexpected rapping at the door. I turned to the door and froze.   
"Who's there?" Mother hollered.   
"Oliver! Diana!" A voiced called out. I instantly recognized it as Levine's voice. Me and Diana glanced at each other.  
"Oliver?" Mother asked. Let out a deep breath and turned to her.   
"It's the Major," I replied. Mother walked to the door slightly pulling it open and peeking through the crack.  
"How rude of me. Come in," Mother directed. To our surprise Jakab entered wearing a dark grey poncho. I spotted Levine standing on the porch with his hood pulled over most of his face. Rayna stood beside him.  
"You must be Mrs. Harris," Jakab greeted her. He held out his hand. "I'm Captain Jakab Andrei." Mother sluggishly shook Jakab’s hand.  
"What's this all about?" she asked.  
"Oliver and Diana have caused some chaos last night and we're here to get them," Jakab answered.  
"What kind of trouble?"  
"We're not here to discuss details," Levine interrupted in an unusually deep voice. "We’re wasting time and they're coming with us." Mother glanced at me with a concerned face.  
"Yeah, fine let's go," I muttered. We hastily put on our boots, the captain handed each of us a cloak and two giant packs.  
"Boots, good. Uniform, check. All right we're ready." Levine said. Me and Diana glanced at each other with concerned eyes as the others began marching to towards the forest.  
"Major Levine, where are we going?" I asked.  
"North," He replied. The rain poured down on me intensely. I looked back to the house and saw mother and father standing there watching us leave. I waved at them and they waved back. I looked forward and marched through the soaked grass and leaves.  
"Major, What's north?" I asked. The Major laughed  
"Nothing but endless fields of wheat and if you go way north, you'll reach mountains."  
"Levine what's the point of this?"  
"Discipline." He replied in his usual monotone voice. We marched through the mud and the freezing rain all the way down the hill. A head of us were five horses all of them tied to a small Scotts pine. Three of them were a chestnut brown color and the other two were a silvery black.  
To the south the chain of mountains spreading east to west loomed many miles away. All of them were half cover in snow from the top down.  
“You’ve never been out of Mohtaha?” Jakab asked me.  
“No,” I answered. He lightly laughed under his breath and looked straight ahead.  
“Your world is going to get a whole lot bigger.” He replied.  
“What!?” I gasped, I looked to Levine who was ahead. “Where are we going?”  
“I said north.” He replied again with that same monotone voice. I was uncertain, I felt confused by the strange behavior of the Major. I was expecting him to still be pissed. “You two are quite the troublemakers. I haven’t delt with kids like you in a long time now.” Levine’s tone had shifted.  
Diana glanced over at me, her eyes widened, her face was pale, she looked extremely frightened and deeply disturbed. We stopped at the horses and I climbed onto one of the maroon mares. Levine untied the horse and handed me the reigns before climbing onto one of the black stallions.  
He steered his steed and lead us down from the hill. I stared straight ahead and focused on the droplets of water tapping on my head. I caught a glimpse of a small light blue and white blur in my peripheral vision. As I turned my head to my right to get a better glimpse of it, but it had disappeared into thin air. It was approximately 2 to 3 hundred meters away across the green and yellow field. I kept my eyes fixed on a small tree that it appeared to stand by. I looked away and shook my head.   
No, no! I can’t be seeing things! If I tell anyone, they’re going to put me in a nuthouse. To my bewilderment Jakab and Levine were both looking to their right as well. Is if they’d turned to see the same thing I’d seen. Maybe I’m not crazy.  
We would ride on down to the dirt road to Mohtaha and beyond to a strangely flat world of fields and farmland. The world expanded more and more I had no idea the world was so big.

[insert journey]  
[Levine makes a point to never treat comrades like fodder]   
[ok maybe this scene is stupid. This isn’t cannon at the moment.] 

"Now what?" Oliver asked.  
"You'll see," Levine replied his expression was grim. Levine marched up the rest of the mountain and looked down the cliff. "You see that" Levine observed pointing down the cliff.  
"See what?" Oliver asked. Oliver walked up behind the major but was reluctant to get closer to the edge.  
"Right there," Levine pointed down the cliff to something just out of Oliver’s sight. Oliver worked his way up to the edge and stood next to the Major.  
"What?" Oliver asked.  
"Don't take this personally," Levine muttered. He reached over, grabbed Oliver’s shoulder strap and with brute strength he shoved Oliver to his knees nearly pushing him over the edge.  
"Oliver," Diana shouted as she rushed towards them. Rayna and Jakab quickly grabbed her and restrained her. Levine held Oliver's upper body over the edge. Oliver let out a terrifying scream, he grabbed his shoulder strap and arched his back. He squirmed around and gritted his teeth.  
"Levine-"  
"Don't move!" Levine ordered.  
"Stop this you bastard." Oliver shouted his voice cracked. Oliver squeezed his eyes shut.  
"What are you doing? Stop this!" Diana pleaded.  
"Levine-Levine please-please-please don't let go, don't let go!" Oliver pleaded at the top of his lungs.  
"Diana!" Levine turned to her. "Do you feel it yet!?" Diana squirmed trying to get out of Jakab’s and Rayna's grip. She slipped out of Jakab’s grip but was quickly forced into the ground.   
"Stop this," Diana screeched.  
"Do you feel helpless yet?!" Levine shouted. "Are you ready to watch your team members die!?"  
"No!" Diana shouted while breaking into tears.  
"What are you willing to do to save his life?! What are you prepared to give?!"  
"I don't know!" Diana wailed.  
"That's because you aren't prepared! You're a spoiled brat Diana. When officers are as incompetent as you, countless people die! And when they do, you'll be so helpless to save them! Just as you feel now! Do you understand?" Diana nodded her head looking through tears. "This is reality, not some stupid game!"  
"I understand sir," Diana wailed.  
"What are you going to do!?"  
"Take the training seriously!" Diana wheezed. Levine pulled Oliver back from the edge and let go of his shoulder strap. Oliver collapsed on the ground intensely panting.  
"Ok," Oliver muttered to himself. Jakab and Rayna let go of Diana. The officers had a dark cloud hanging over their heads especially Captain Jakab.  
"Both of you. Your visits are limited to 1 visit a week," Levine muttered. "If anyone catches you going more than once a week. I will limit your visits to once a month and if you break that again let it be once every 4 months," Levine said. "Do you understand?"  
Oliver and Diana nodded their heads.  
"Good." Levine acknowledged. Rayna and Jakab gave the major and uneasy stare but didn’t utter a word. “Do I even what you two were doing?”  
Oliver uneasily reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the thick shabby journal. Levine callously stared at the book his expression was of complete surprise. He subtly reached for the book and plucked it from Oliver’s hand and with a strange gesture of his hand he let out the first laugh Oliver had ever witnessed.   
He mumbled. “I… Had no idea that this was a simple prank.”

[ok back on track]  
?


	5. Warrior

CHAPTER 10.5: Warrior

The sky was gloomy as Hans wandered about in a small town. It had been 8 years since the attack, but he’d remembered it like it was still yesterday. He was looking for a warrior trainer who’d gone by the name Recke in this run-down place.

CHAPTER 11: Injury

I woke with a light feeling in my limbs. I was in a sky-blue room in a bright white bed and the silky white drapes flapped in the wind above my face. Everything felt so warm and bright I’d wondered if I was in heaven. I sat up in the soft sheets and sharp pain shot through my right leg. The pain was almost inconceivable. I let out a painful gasp I reached forward and felt my wrapped-up leg which pulsed with throbbing pain. I quickly realized I had a bandage around my right wrist, around my chest and around my ribs. Unbearable pulsating pain beat in my back, the back of my head and in my neck.   
I had no idea how I had gotten here, and I looked around the small room looking for anything to give me a clue. To my right a wilted pink flower of a Dog Rose laid on the table beside me. I pinched the stem between my fingers and studied the beautiful wildflower in the palm of my aching hand. I sat for hours in the hospital bed as I waited for anyone to walk in but there was no one. No one appeared for hours – until sunset when I heard a faint tap upon the door. I rose up with excitement in my tight chest as the door swayed open and Diana sulked in with a nervous cloud over her head.  
“Hey you’re finally awake,” she exclaimed.  
“Diana, what am I doing in the hospital?” I asked anxiously.   
“You don’t remember?” she asked in a puzzled tone. I shook my head.  
“No…Nothing at all…” I muttered. I looked around at the walls. “What’s the date?”  
“May 12th,” she answered.  
“I’ve been out for three days!” I exclaimed. “What the hell happened?!”  
“Oliver you were thrown into a fence,” she said sympathetically. “Măslin escaped the stables… Your stupid ass decided to mount him! He bucked you off and sent you flying into the fence of the corral.” A vision flashed in my mind; it was me chasing after the young black stallion before it cut off.  
“Gods… He really fucked me up,” I muttered.  
“This might be a shock to you,” she muttered hesitantly. I could see the reluctance in her eyes as she searched for her words. There was a chill of terrifying anticipation in my gut as I sat. I let out a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry–,”  
“Just say it,” I muttered.  
“A tendon in your right leg has been completely torn,” she mumbled unwillingly. There was a freezing chill that rippled across my skin, my face felt flushed and my breathing felt restrained. My skin tingled and burned as I began taking deep breaths that made my head spin. “It might be possible to rehabilitate you but it’s not likely you’ll make a full recovery,” she stated with a guilty voice. I closed my eyes as the feeling of frustration built up inside of me. My life is ruined, I told myself. “I’m sorry,” she said in such a low voice I barely heard it. My mind was suddenly filled with terrifying thoughts and anxieties that couldn’t suppress.   
“What’s going to happen?” I asked in a mere peep. I gently held the stem of the rose between my middle-finger and my thumb. “Am I out? Does my training stop? Am I going to be disabled?” I asked anxiously, not even pausing for a reply. Diana nervously shuffled up to me and sat on the chair beside the bed.  
“I’m sorry Oliver,” she whispered.  
“Am I out of the squad?” I asked with tears forming in my eyes.   
“I…” her voice drowned out. I was terrified to see her considering her answer. “We’ll see how you recover…”  
“No,” I wheezed, then placing my hand over my face with a feeling of shame. I let out my tears of frustration. We sat in an awkward silence as I sat in regret, and sadness.  
We barely spoke for the rest of that evening until she left just before sunset. I sat in pain through the long restless days and nights and every other day Diana would drop by for a few hours sometimes with cards or books and spend time with me as my limbs slowly healed themselves.  
As the days past Diana would make less appearances and I implored her to get me some books from the library to pass the time. The next day she arrived with several books and the old green and red books that the hermit had given her. Two of them were fantastic novels about adventure and romance, the red book was a rich historical text that presented many theories and provided colorful descriptions of artifacts and ruins.   
On a particular day, Diana would come to the hospital where we would indulge in one of our more memorable conversations that would stick with me vividly. It was a hot and humid evening in late May, we sat between a small desk facing each other enjoying teatime in each other’s presence. I sat with my arm through my wooden crutch, leaning against it to keep it at my side.  
“How’s your book?” she asked me, inquiring about the red historical textbook.  
“I read about cursed blades,” I mentioned to her.  
“Really?” she muttered whilst taking a sip of tea. “How’s your recovery?” she asked. I felt my limbs jolt with excitement.   
“I’ve been doing good,” I exclaimed. I clutched the crutch in my hand. “I’ve been trying really hard!” I spit out my words. “The nurse is helping me.” I hoisted myself up onto the wooden crutch and held it against my side. “I’ll be back out there by the end of June! I promise!” I exclaimed, my voice bursting with energy. Diana had an optimistic smile but doubtful eyes as she looked up at me.  
“If you hadn’t been such an idiot…” she mumbled. “You’re terribly reckless and I hope this is a critical wake up call for you,” she scoffed. A dreadful feeling of guilt came over me as I listened to her bitter words. “You may have to use that crutch for the rest of your life.”  
“Don’t say that,” I muttered in denial. “I signed a contract…” My voice hollowed out as a feeling of emptiness took over from within. “You can’t take that away from me…”  
“What will people think?” she asked with a hint of annoyance in her throat. “A disabled man defending me. You’ll never be able to be as adept and as strong as the others around you. A disabled man is a reliability–,” I slammed my hand on the desk, making all silverware jingle and bounce.  
“I am not disabled!” I shouted. I was in a terrifying state of denial, I didn’t want to believe this would hold me back and I was determined to prove myself when my injuries completely healed. I felt a flooding sensation fill my bladder and I looked to the door. “I’m going to the bathroom,” I mumbled as I hobbled on my crutch towards the door. I trekked down the narrow hall of the hospital, to the out-house outside, where I relieved myself.   
I quietly made my way to my room where I heard a faint voice gracefully singing from inside. I peeked through the crack in the door as Diana sat humming a slow melody to herself in a soft soothing voice which seemed to slowly melt away the feelings of stress in my muscles and mind. Once her song ended, I pushed open the door and hobbled into the room, using my crutch like a third leg, hobbling forward on my left leg, and pathetically dragging my right leg across the floor.  
“You have a beautiful voice,” I remarked as I sat down. “Perhaps you’d have a promising career as a singer.” Diana had a flattered expression as she shook her head.  
“I’m not a good singer,” she stated. There was a sharp tap upon the door as the doctor entered. He had a clean face; his sleeves were rolled up as he had an apron tied tight around him and he spoke in a tired voice.  
“Hello, you two,” he said politely.  
“Hi,” Diana peeped. I said nothing.   
“How’s your leg?” he asked me. I laid my hand on my thigh and stoked it gently, feeling the pain in the side of my leg.  
“It still hurts,” I muttered.  
“Well then, I’ll give you another shot,” he muttered. He stepped out of the room and came back with a cloth and syringe. He wiped down my arm with the acidic smelling alcohol and injected me with a pain-killing drug. He quickly left afterwards and left me and Diana in awkward silence I felt light-headed, my crutch slipped out of my hand and smacked against the floor. We stared at each-other in silence. I looked at her with lazy eyes as I laid slumped in me seat, a pleasureful feeling pulsing through me. There was a warm, happy feeling radiating in my chest.   
“Are you alright?” she asked.  
“Yeah,” I peeped in a pleasured voice. “I just need.” I reached for my crutch. Diana picked it up and politely handed it to me. She helped me onto my weak feet, where I then stumbled over to my bed and climbed into my soft white sheets.  
“Well, I’ll be taking off if you’re–,”  
“Don’t go,” I interrupted pathetically. I reached out and softly grabbed her wrist. She had a flattered smile on her face.  
“Honestly, Oliver–,”  
“Please,” I mumbled humbly.  
“Fine,” she muttered with reluctance before sitting down beside me. I leaned back with a feeling excitement in me. I threw my arm around her and gave her a hug.  
“Thank you,” I innocently exclaimed.  
“Stop! This is embarrassing,” she mumbled. I squeezed her tighter.  
“It’s not like anyone is watching us,” I whispered.  
“You have a point,” she muttered.   
“You’re so pretty but so mean,”   
“You are so drugged-out,” she remarked.   
“No, I’m not THAT drugged-out,” I mumbled. “You’re so warm, can we just stay like this.”  
“What?”  
“I don’t want to be lonely tonight. Please,” I mumbled as I slowly collapsed into my bed with a light head and blurry vision before I shut my lousy eyes.   
“You’re not going to be lonely tonight,”  
“Thank you, Anna,” I said with slurred speech. “because the nights get cold.”  
“Well, you’re not going to be cold tonight.”  
“Thank you, Anna. I care about you so much, you’ll see, I’ll always be by your side.” I mumbled.  
“I care about you too,”  
“Really?”  
“Yes.”  
“Do you… love me?”  
She chuckled innocently. “In a way.”  
“Wow Anna… That’s uncanny because… I love you too…in a way…”  
“Good to hear, now go to bed.”  
“I-I love you so much, but… you’re so mean to me… all the time. You should be more like… like mama… because mom is nice and warm and sweet… like candy… You like candy… you’ve got to be… like it… sweet and… sugary.”  
“You’re in another world,” she remarked holding a laugh under her breath.  
“I mean it,” I mumbled in my drowsiness. “You’ve got… to be sweet… or… no guy… will love you… you’ve got… to give him warm kisses… You don’t… even give me… any… kisses… Why… don’t… you ever give… me… kisses?”  
“Because it’s against the rules sillyhead.”  
“Awe… come on,” I grumbled. “We’re… not going… to get… in trouble.”  
“Do you want me to kiss you?”  
“I would… love… a kiss… from you… Ann,”  
“Well, you see, I’ve never kissed anybody before…”  
“Me… too,” I mumbled.  
“Fine I guess one small kiss isn’t against the law…”  
“Okay…” And just like that… I had fallen into a deep drugged out sleep. Whether or not I actually got a kiss was completely up in the air and I would never know in the end. Whatever I was on that night; it was definitely some strong stuff.  
I stood in the bright clouds in a distant dream world, where Isabelle stood before me. It was the first time I’d seen her since the accident.   
“You’ve really screwed the pooch,” she remarked in an aggressive tone.  
“What?”  
“You’ve fucked up your leg for good. That tendon is torn so bad it’s never going to heal properly,” she said bluntly.  
“That’s not true,” I refuted.  
“You’re in denial,” she exclaimed, she let out a sadistic laugh. “Listen to yourself; it’s pathetic.” I stood there in shame. “But you’re in luck.”  
“What do you mean?” I asked anxiously.  
“I can repair it…” she said. I looked at her with excitement building in me.  
“You can?” I asked in a loud and exclamatory voice.  
“Yes. Now you know what you have to do…” she stated.  
I suddenly awoke in the hospital bed as I laid there on my back, pain shot through my leg and I was in uncomfortable amount of agony. A warm mass laid beside me, in a confused state I reached over and put my hand on them. To my surprise it was Diana, who laid peacefully beside me on her side. Her face was peaceful as she looked at me with drowsy eyes.  
“Diana what are you doing here?” I asked surprised.  
“You don’t remember asking me to stay?” she asked in a low rubbly voice. I rubbed my aching head with my hand.  
“No, I don’t remember what happened. I remember being drugged and laughing but everything else is just a blank,” I muttered.  
“That’s probably for the better,” she declared. She curled her leg and her knee mildly bumped into my thigh.  
“Ouch,” I yelped. I rolled over; my leg began throbbing as pain shot through my leg. I gasped as I laid there clenching my teeth.  
“Are you okay?”  
“You just kneed my leg,” I grunted.   
“I am so sorry,” she gasped. I shut my eyes and focused on my breath.  
“It’s okay,” I muttered. I held out an open hand, asking her without words to hold it. I squeezed her hand as I panted in a sharp unbearable pain, that pulsed and pulsed. After a long and most intense several minutes of my life the pain had receded enough to get my mind off of it. “Thanks,” I muttered. Her hand was red from being squeezed so intensely.   
“Are you alright?” she asked anxiously.  
“I’ll survive,” I replied facetiously. “I’ll be back on my feet soon.”  
“Your dedication is admirable, I haven’t exactly appreciated it,” she said in a warm tone.  
“Well, you’re in a good mood,” I remarked. She smiled warmly and let out a light sigh.  
“I’ve gained a new perspective on life,” she declared warmly.  
“That’s good. I like the new you much better already,” I replied. She gave me a confused smirk as she shook her head.  
“Thanks, I guess,” she replied unconfidently.   
“Uhhhh. What changed?” I asked.  
“Well… I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. I impulsively put my hand on her hip, and we stared at each other awkwardly. I passionately slipped my hand under the edge of her shirt and caressed her side at the cuff of her skirt. There was suddenly a light tap on the door which startled us, we jerked our heads to face the door as it swung open and Levine marched in like he was on a mission.  
“Hey…” his voice drowned out and he stared down at us with a befuddled face. “Am I walking in on something?” he asked, embarrassed and bewildered. Diana had already slipped out of the blankets and to her dizzy feet.  
“We weren’t doing anything,” she exclaimed, terrified. I sat up too embarrassed to say anything and stared at Levine dumbfounded.  
“Maybe I should come back later,” he said.  
“Major it’s fine,” I muttered. He looked at me with a cramped expression over his eyes as he looked uneasy.   
“Are you sure?” he asked.  
“It’s fine,” Diana blurted out. Levine had an uneasy look upon his face as looked between us.  
“Oliver can’t stay here forever you know. You’re running up a bill by staying here,” Levine stated bluntly.   
“What should we do?” she asked.  
“Whenever you’re ready to move Oliver, I want you back in base,” Levine declared. I looked at him sharply and nodded my head. Levine looked at us embarrassed. “As you can see, it wasn’t that important,” Levine muttered. “I don’t know how you’re going to pay this bill–,”  
“I’ll pay for it,” Diana blurted out.   
“You might as well do it. I know you can afford it,” Levine remarked. “You might as well get him a therapist.”  
“Nonsense,” she muttered. “I’m doing it because I care about him,” she said bolstering her chest as if she had something to prove. I noticed this dialogue between Diana and Levine where he would say a rude claim to put her down and she would always refute his claim, sometimes with a lie. I was flattered but in terms of credibility I had my doubts.  
“Right,” he replied cynically. He grabbed the doorknob and stepped out of the room closing the door.  
“Anna what’s a therapist?” I asked.  
“Someone who’s going to help get you back on your feet,” she said with a flat affect. She grabbed her uniform that sat on my chair and pulled it on. “You must be starving,” she remarked. “I’ll run out and get something from a pub or whatever I can find,” she said as she buttoned up her uniform.  
“That sounds good,” I muttered blissfully.  
“Alright, I’ll be back in less than an hour,” she declared before leaving. I sat in bed thinking to myself, I’d wondered if I should grab the red book and read to pass the time, but I decided not to, for some odd reason. After a long and unsettling ten minutes there was a tap on the door, I looked up to the doctor walking into the room. He wore this large beige coat. He grabbed a chair and slid it up next to the bed and sat down in front of me.  
“How’s your leg feeling?” he asked in his soft but direct tone of voice.  
“It hurts less and less every day,” I replied.  
“Good,” he remarked. “For the sake of curtesy, I came to talk to you about your treatment.”  
“Treatment?” I asked baffled.   
“Your friend Diana inquired about treatment and offered to pay for it,” he stated. “Just to clarify, are you engaged?”  
“No, “I blurted out.  
“Oh. So, then you’re married?” he asked. I shook my head.  
“No, we’re just friends,” I clarified. He looked at me with a confused and embarrassed expression.  
“Sorry, my mistake,” he muttered with an embarrassed chuckle. “but to get on with what I was saying, treatment isn’t going to be cheap, it’s over two-hundred pieck per session.”   
“Perhaps it would be better to discuss this with Diana,” I muttered.  
“You’re right,” the doctor said before standing up. “To put it bluntly,” he said as he turned to face me. “I’ve never seen a patient completely recover from this type of injury. It’s very likely you’ll be somewhat impaired for the rest of your life.” I disagreed with those words in my mind, but I remained silent, and decided to keep on listening to the doctor’s insight despite how much I loathed his words. “You’ll always have pain, you’ll always have a limp, and you’ll always have to work extra hard just to be average,” he stated, frankly but in an endearing and sensitive manner.  
“I understand,” I muttered ignorantly.  
“There’s more to it than that,” he said, casually tucking his hands into his pockets. “People will hate you,” he stated. I looked up at him feeling quite dumbfounded by his bold statement. With no more to say he turned and sauntered over towards the door.  
“Why?” I vocalized, just has he put his hand on the doorknob. He froze, turned to me, and shrugged with stupefaction.   
“No reason,” he said before making a casual exit. Thinking back on that moment, I eventually understood what he meant. There is a stigma that clings around people with disabilities, the way people socially distance themselves from you, the way people look at you. Even I was guilty of it. Whenever I might have seen a legless man sitting on a street corner, I was also one of the many people who would cross the street just to avoid him or storm past the man on crutches who was in my way as I let out a breath of annoyance and frustration.  
I was struck with a new memory of the incident as I jumped onto the stallion, he bucked me off and I flew through the air. Everything seemed slow and distorted like I was looking through a narrow tunnel. I could see my legs collide into the fence of the corral, a chunk of wood splintered off the fence and impaled my right leg through the thigh, I felt my ribs crack and I was in such a tremendous shock that I couldn’t feel anything at first, I was just breathless from the sight of several inches of wood sticking out of my bloody leg. I let out a shout of agony as the pain took over and the blurry sight of a person rushed over to help me. The flashback ended as Diana entered the room holding two mess tins.  
“It’s nothing special, but it’ll fill you up,” she said with a grin on her face and a satisfied tone. I looked to the bland and generic slice of bread and cheese that sat in my tray. I hardly wanted to eat such a bland meal but it’s smell was oddly enticing probably because I had not eaten anything since last afternoon. I unmannerly and disgustingly scarfed down the tough bread and dry cheese as I sat in bed, only leaving crumbs in my rectangular mess tin. Diana had only nibbed at some cheese and bread in her mess tin and sat with a distasteful expression in her eyes.  
After about thirty minutes the doctor keenly approached us with the treatment plan, and we discussed our options. I was ready to end this horrid cabin fever that had grown on me for the past several days and in less than a weeks’ time I began the physical therapy. I would remember it as the most vivid and most excruciating experience in my life, it would greatly surpass any physical agony I had or would ever experience in all of my military training. I could never describe how terribly embarrassing it felt just to take ten measly steps and have your entire body soaked in sweat and your limbs unceasingly shaking from shock and exhaustion. I seriously contemplated the idea of giving up after each therapy session but for some reason I never decided to quit. I mainly credited it to Diana who never left my side and did not shy away from giving me uplifting affirmations no matter how pathetic my number of steps were that session. I could see that she believed in me; never had I seen her act with so many duchess traits.  
Eventually I was rehabilitated enough for me to move out of the hospital, though my recovery would continue without the guidance of therapists. It would be the end of July when I would make the trek from the hospital to the base, which was a mere block away. It would take me almost an hour to make the exhausting journey, a simple block felt like 6 kilometers. I had come to regret my plea to travel alone, I had underestimated the amount of effort it would conceive for a broken individual like me to limp along a narrow sidewalk with a single crutch.  
As I reached the bench against the wall of the base, I pathetically collapsed beside a homeless man who was dressed in torn blankets and old rags, that sat upright in a rather peculiar and withdrawn slump. I felt my right thigh quivering and riving with pain as my muscles spasmed ceaselessly. To describe the man who sat beside me, who looked out at the street in a rather observant nature for someone I had seen there many times before. He was middle-aged – definitely in his late thirties to early forties – his long unkempt hair was a tarnished blonde and grey as the greasy strands of long hair draped over his face. His mucky blonde and grey beard was a tangled mess of crude shrubbery and he had a melancholic look in his eyes as he gazed at the stone road front of him. A shabby sack laid guarded between his legs and he clutch one of the drawstrings in his filthy and calloused hand. The other hand rested on his thigh, under his fingers was a bleached folded piece of paper covered in black scribbles.   
I unbuttoned my hot uniform as I was covered in sweat and I let out a long and peaceful sigh as I gazed to all the people who cluttered in the roundabout as they mingled with merchants and vendors in their small pedal stands. “It’s a nice day out,” I remarked open ended. The man sat noiseless for several seconds before deciding to answer. He spoke in a thick western accent – much like Gerhart’s – as he pronounced many of his W’s like V’s, his TH’s like Z’s, and gurgled the R’s in his throat.   
“Is very humid air in this town. Is the making the skin sweaty, you know?” he pronounced, his Aulganiyan vocabulary was embarrassingly amateurish.   
“Yeah, the lake does make things humid around here,” I said innocently. I looked to my side and studied his innocent face. “You’re not from around here,” I remarked.  
“I have accent very bad, I have come from different country and is looking for,” he paused, he kept making forward gestures with his hand as he searched for words. “And is looking for miracle hero.”  
“Hero?” I asked. “Why would you be looking for a hero?” I asked.  
“Well, you see, this hero is like legend in my country. He is like the good fortune-teller, like a gift from the god, so I want to be blessed by his aura,” the man pronounced pathetically.   
“Do you know what he’s called?” I asked.   
“Yes!” he exclaimed. “It is called the Kaufmann Krieger. It translate the Warrior Merchant.”  
“The Merchant Warrior,” I muttered.  
“Ja,” he replied. I took it as meaning yes. With a wholesome feeling in my prideful chest, I stood up on my crutch and limped into the base. I had not been in for so long I almost forgot where my tent was, but I eventually found it. I found Diana relaxing on my cot as I limped into my tent.  
“Hey, I finally made it,” I muttered softly. She sat up and greeted me with a polite smile.   
“I thought you’d gotten lost,” she replied flippantly. I let out a breathy chuckle.  
“I almost did,” I said with a grin. I leaned forward and collapsed face-first into my stiff cot, giving her a scare.  
“Are you alright?” she exclaimed. I laughed into my pillow.  
“I’m fine.”

“Once I get better, Maslin, this is going to be backwards. You’re going to be the one scraping up my shit off the floor,” I muttered under my breath. I scrapped the pile of shit off the floor with the shovel and loaded it into the wooden bucket. I hobbled out of the stall dragging the bucket of shit along with me.  
I slowly raised my hand up to Maslin’s nose, he lurched his head forward opening his mouth. I pulled my hand back as his teeth snapped together almost biting my fingers.  
“Nice try you prick,” I muttered. I limped to the empty stable across from Maslin’s to clean out that one. The trainees would take out all the horses during a session, but Maslin would be left behind since he had not been broken yet.   
I looked back at the silvery black stallion, I hated him, such an unruly wild creature. I absolutely hated this job, the intoxicating smell clung to me despite how careful I was to not go near any of that crap. I finished up just as Levine and the other trainees flooded into the stables pulling their steeds along by the reins. I brushed past Levine on my crutch, almost walking into him.  
“Hey rookie,” he greeted me, but I walked through him, giving him the cold shoulder. I wanted to mutter “fuck off” under my breath, but I kept my mouth shut.   
“Hey Oliver!” Grayson called out as I left the stables. He walked up next to me as I trudged along.  
“Hey Grayson,” I muttered.  
“How was your day?” he asked eagerly.  
“Shitty,” I muttered.  
“How come?” he asked impulsively.  
“I’ve been scraping shit off the floor for hours. How do you think my day would be?” I muttered. I limped over to the entrance of the base, and Grayson politely opened the latch for me. “Thanks,” I said.  
“Are you going to talk to your friend?” Grayson asked.  
“Yeah,” I murmured as I limped over to the wall bench.   
“What’s with that guy?” Grayson asked.  
“Nothing, he’s just interesting to talk to,” I muttered.  
“How can a homeless man be interesting?” he asked.  
“He needs my help,” I mentioned.  
“It’s not your job to give to the poor,” he said.  
“I’m not giving him money,” I refuted. “He wants to know whereabouts the Merchant Warrior lives so I’m going to show him once I get better.”

The man turned to me and surprisingly began speaking fluent Aulganiyan. “You know the Merchant Warrior?” he asked in a weathered voice. He still had an accent, but it was not as bad as he had made it out to be.  
“No,” I muttered befuddled. “But I used to live in his area.”  
“You know his whereabouts?” the man exclaimed, jerking his body to face me.  
“Yeah,” I peeped. The man smirked and his eyes lit up.  
“Then from a friend to a friend, could you show me?” he asked, his tone turned mysterious. I was confused but I had no reason to suspect ill intentions from him.  
“I can point you in the right direction. Granted no one has found him in a long time,” I replied.  
“I would appreciate that,” he muttered. “And please I have another request,” he mutter humbly.  
“What’s that?” I asked eagerly. The man carefully pulled a letter out of his sack and held it in front of me.  
“Can you deliver this letter for me?” he asked with such a convincing voice. I took the letter from his hand and looked at it.  
“Yeah, I can do that,” I said happily. I tucked the letter in my pocket and gave him a reassuring smile. He awkwardly smiled.  
“Thank you, kid,” he muttered. “Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you what your name is.”  
“Oliver,” I mumbled. He reached out his hand for a handshake.  
“My name is Hans.”

CHAPTER 12: Revenge  
?  
[create a special lens that the characters views the world through]  
I saw a man down in the river cleaning himself and I was shocked to realize it was Hans. He had cut his hair and his beard; he scrubbed his hair so clean that it looked like gold blonde instead of dirty blonde.

A bright blinding light flashed into my eyes for a mere second. In the south sky a long thin white root of energy grew down from the clouds and struck the ground. It struck the forest on one of the hills to the south... My hill... A late crackle filled my ears followed by rumbling. Suddenly there was another flash as a second bolt of lightning struck the hill. A thin mist began rising from the hill in the distance. No, not mist, it’s smoke. It’s late August any field is bound to catch fire. There was a chill in my gut as I came to a terrifying realization. My parents! The crackling from the second blast echoed through the air. I have to get to my hill!  
I helplessly stumbled forward on my crutch overcome with such a weak feeling in my body. I wouldn’t be able to limp there in a week! There was a cramp in my chest as I began to panic and breathe erratically. My skin tingled and began to sweat profusely. I limped toward the gate with all my might, determined to make it no matter how long it takes. I have to see if they’re alright! I froze as I put my hand on the rusty steel gate my limbs were already fatigued and aching. I’m already spent and I’m barely any closer, there has got to be a better way to go about this. I looked back into the base, down the dirt paths to the stables. But the trainees are out on a drill right now, so all the horses have been depleted. Except one…  
I hustled toward to the stables dragging my leg.

[he causes a lot of chaos while riding Maslin]  
I huffed hastily marching up the hill I felt a cramp in my side. I let out a hopeless groan as I hobbled forward my limbs trembling in a fear, I’d never felt the likes of before.  
Come on, pick yourself up! Save them! Do it dammit! Damn you don’t stop! GO!  
I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and launched forward into a slow jog. I mentally suppressed the pain in my side as I began to pick up some wind. Weaving through the thick trees and brush a thick fog of smoke that becomes denser the deeper I go. Its acidic smell burns my nostrils and lungs. I cover my mouth with my sleeve as I force myself to endure the smoldering air.  
A distant cry rings ahead of me echoing through the trees. I push myself to sprint faster and faster. A small skinny figure emerges through the thicket, crying out for help as she wails and wails through her tears.  
“Emilia,” I pathetically gasp. Once more I try to shout. “Emilia!” I scream her name with urgency.  
“Brother!” She shouts with despair. I ran up to her and scooped her up in my arms, holding her tightly up off the ground. She tries to speak between her quick inhales and tears. “Mama! Papa!”  
“Where are they?” I ask hastily.  
“There’s-” She sharply inhales. “There’s someone in the house! They’re trapped.”  
I quickly put Emilia down and she collapses onto her knees.   
“Emilia I'll get mother and father. You just run, ok?” I directed. Emilia wipes her eyes and lightly nods her head. I bounced to my feet and continued down the path to my house. Through the thick trees a bright orange light beamed through.   
I saw it. The house and barn were ablaze like the forest behind it. The chattering of the burning wood filled my eardrums. Making my way from the forest I ran across the familiar grassy clearing. Only the roof of the house was ablaze so without hesitation I climbed up the porch steps to the shut front door.  
[OOF REWRITE TO COMPENSATE FOR HIS LEG]  
I raised my foot and kicked the door with all my might. The door flung open nearly flying off the hinges. I looked around the ransacked room and no one was in sight. I suddenly heard a shriek on the floor above me leaving a cold empty feeling on my stomach. I could tell it was the terrified voice of my mother.   
"Mom!" I shouted frantically as I rushed to the stairway leaping over anything in my path. I looked up the flight of stairs in horror. My limbs shook and my heart was about to explode. I limp figure laid on the stairway. overcome with so much fear and yet I managed to slowly walk up the stairway.   
"Father," I muttered in disbelief. He laid facing up and covered in blood. Blood poured from his mouth and his eyes looked empty and stripped of life. Several moments went by as I stared in shock. Mother! I quickly came back to my senses. I passed him and peaked over the second floor. There in front of a flaming wall a man stood holding mother in the air by her neck. My jaw dropped in disbelief.   
"Put my mother down!" I shouted in a blaze of anger. I took a few more steps forward and soon realized the man didn't have his feet on the floor himself. He somehow was floating nearly a foot off the ground. What? How is that possible?   
"O-Oliver," Mother gasped out. "Stop... Run."   
"Mom," I muttered. Every moral I held told me to save her, but every instinct I had told me to listen and run.   
"What are you doing!?" Levine shouted as he shoved me aside and marched past me up the stairway. He held a sword in his right hand. "Get back, it's dangerous!"   
"Take Oliver and run away," Mother gasped out. I realized she was talking to Levine. This can't be happening. There's no way this could be real.   
"I love you," Mother wheezed. A moment later her body went limp and the life drained from her eyes. My cheeks swelled up as I came to the petrifying realization that my life was crashing down. Now, there was nothing I could do, I cannot bring back the dead. My body felt completely hollow like I was an empty shell of a person. The man dropped her limp body as if she were a doll and turned to us. She smacked against the wooden floor and a chill goes through my spine as she laid there with lifeless eyes.   
"You shouldn't be here," He said in a terrifyingly deep voice.   
"Damn you," I shouted. In a heartbeat I ran up the stairway. My consciousness became completely consumed in rage. I had snapped and ill thoughts corrupted me. I just wanted to break something, anything, anything to satisfy my fury. Levine grabbed my collar and yanked me backwards, forcing me down the stairway.   
"Get back you idiot," Levine shouted. I desperately tried to yank away from Levine as I clung to the rail, trying to climb the stairway. Levine was relentless as he gripped my collar with his strong hand and didn't budge an inch. "You fool!" he shouted.  
"Let go," I desperately pleaded. I turned to look at Levine and I looked him right in the eyes. I began tugging myself up the rail with all my might. "I have to kill this bastard," I shouted.   
"No, you don't," Levine shouted back. Suddenly an overwhelming force pulled me backwards from my collar and I was suddenly yanked off my feet as Levine dragged me down the narrow stairway. He relentlessly threw me to the ground as he was on the end of his tether, his eyes were glued to Eroberer who floated at the top of the stairway, staring down at us with cold lifeless eyes, as he levitated over the top step.   
"Major Levine," A voice called out. I recognized the voice instantly and knew it was Jakab. He rushed through the doorway and jogged towards us. He drew his blade and stood shoulder to shoulder with Levine. They both stood feet shoulder width apart and their blades held out in front of them in a kind of battle stance, ready to engage Eroberer. There was a sudden crack and a flaming beam parted from the ceiling and landed in the stairway. Levine swiftly sheathed his sword and turned around. I was helpless as he reached his arm around my ribs and hoisted me up tucking me under his arm. His strength crushed me, and I was unable to breathe. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, I was being carried away against my will. I reached out an outstretched hand towards the stairway.   
Everything happened so quickly I wasn't even sure if I'd called out or not. He carried me out the door, off the porch and persisted to hoist me several yards away from the house before finally letting me go.   
I sat up from landing in the dirt and looked in shock at my flaming house. I stared forward, a single tear ran down my cheek and moments afterwards an army of tears followed. I covered my face and cried into my sleeve. A firm hand grabbed my shoulder. I intuitively knew it was Levine. I looked up at him and he looked down at me. His face was red, and he was teary eyed. He raised his arm to his mouth and violently coughed into his sleeve. I felt a sense of comfort as he gripped my shoulder. He took a knee and hugged me tightly. I felt his chin rest on my shoulder, and he patted my back. I didn't know what to think and I just continued to sob into his shoulder. A warm fuzzy feeling grew inside my chest.   
"I can't imagine how you feel right now Oliver."   
"Levine it hurts," I muttered. Levine's hand stroked the back of my head.  
"There, there. This is no place for a rookie like you," Levine muttered. He released his grip on me and stood up. He reached his hand out in front of me. I wiped another tear from my face and without hesitation I grabbed his hand. He hoisted me up with ease and I stood looking down. I didn't want to know who was looking at me and I didn't want them to see my face.   
"Thank you, Levine," I mumbled.   
"Oliver."   
"Yeah," I peeped.   
"Go back to base," He said.   
"Ok Levine," I mumbled. I wiped my face and slowly looked up. No one was looking anywhere near me and they all stood looking at the fire. I slowly turned around towards the forest. Diana stood in front of me, her arms crossed behind her back. Her expression was not her usual happy-go-lucky expression, her eyes were wide with a worried expression on her face. She gave me a comforting smile. She wasn't smiling because she was happy, she was trying to comfort me in an awkward way.   
"Diana. Make sure he gets back to base," Levine said.   
"Yes Major," Diana replied. 

CHAPTER 13: Reveal.

Levine and Jakab stood in the midst of the chaos, Rayna had just left to go back. There was nothing that could be done about the blazing forest but Levine and Jakab sulked around alone.  
“Major we should leave this place, before the fire spreads,” Jakab muttered. Levine sat at the edge of the forest as he gazed out at the burning house with an empty look.  
A dark figure appeared to saunter out of the edge of the forest and stood in front of the entrance of the flaming cabin. Levine gazed at him with curious and startled eyes. He grabbed Jakab who’d turned away to retreat back to town. Jakab jerked around, turning to him, and looking into Levine’s wide and startled eyes. Levine gripped the hilt of the blade at his side, drew his sword and stood defensively as he waited for the mysterious silhouette of a human figure to make a move.  
“Who are you?” Levine shouted with a booming voice. Hans drew his blade which gleamed a ruby red against the light of the fire. He clutched a red transparent crystalline blade.   
“What the hell,” Jakab gasped as he drew his sword. “Where the hell did, he come from?”  
Jakab slowly walked towards Hans with the intention of engaging him. “Jakab stop,” Levine ordered. Jakab looked over at Levine with a bewildered look. “Look at his sword,” Levine ordered. Jakab glanced back over at the silhouetted man that flickered against the warping heat of the blazing cabin.  
“Is that–,”  
“A crystalline blade,” Levine interrupted.  
“The man who disappeared–,”   
“That’s Hans,” Levine exclaimed.  
“But nobody has seen him for over 14 years!”  
“I know,” Levine muttered.  
Hans stepped away from the burning house as he casually walked across the lawn and carelessly approached Levine and Jakab. His voice was deep and had aged with the weathering of an older man’s voice, but he appeared like he was in his thirties. “Greetings gentlemen,” Hans said to them with a reckless tone.  
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” Major Levine shouted with intense frustration but still half expected Hans to answer. He still paced towards them without giving an answer. As he got a better glimpse of Levine’s face, he’d come to a realization as he stared at him with wide eyes.   
“I know you,” Hans gasped. Levine didn’t respond and he kept an intense glare fixed on Hans. He was nearly ten feet away from them which was dangerously close, and they stepped backwards, defensively backing away.  
“Jakab don’t let your guard down,” Levine ordered.  
“Your voice is familiar too,” Hans continued. “Where have I met you?”  
“Stay back,” Levine ordered with a false sense of confidence. Levine pointed his great sword at Hans as a futile attempt to discourage him from stepping any closer.

[insert fight]

Oliver laid down on his cot and he stared up at the tent canvas. I had no idea what to say or how to comfort him. "Anna, I feel so alone," He mumbled. I walked over to his cot and sat down next to him.   
"Oliver you're not alone." I grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly with our fingers intertwined. Oliver's eyebrows trembled and his eyes were filled with tears. "I'm here for you. I'm here. Levine is here for you. You're not alone," I said. It was the only way I knew how to comfort him.   
"Anna." Oliver raised his arm and covered his face. He took a deep breath in and began sobbing into his sleeve. 

“Diana.”  
"Yes, Major Levine?" I asked. The major flipped to a different page in his book. His arm was still wrapped up in a bandage.  
"Diana, I haven't seen Oliver for a few days now," he finished.   
"Are you saying he's ditching training sessions?"   
"Yes,” Levine replied bluntly.   
"What would you like me to do?"   
"Get him on his feet. He's part of your squad so he's mostly your responsibility… I don't care what you do, just get him back on his feet."   
“Major,” I asked.  
“Yes?”  
“I don’t think Oliver needs a commander. I think he needs a father,” I speculated.


	6. distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning: depictions of self-harm and thoughts of suicide

CHAPTER 14: Distress

[highlights that need to be added or changed: Hatred for Hans, guilt for his parents death, include Olivia as a character.]  
[Characters seem bland. Give them more personality]  
[don’t forget to make changes to include his gimpy leg]  
[reminders: Olivia takes the burden of taking care of Emilia]

Diana pushed aside the tent flap as she walked into Oliver's tent carrying her mess tins. Oliver laid curled up facing the tent canvas.   
"Hey." Diana said. He didn't respond but he made a slight motion acknowledging her presence. "I brought you something to eat." He didn't respond to her. Diana walked over to him and sat next to him on his cot she peeked at his depressed face. His eyes were slightly open, and he was breathing lightly.   
"Oliver, eat! Will you?" Oliver closed his eyes, he grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his face. Diana's frustration increased as she felt like Oliver was intentionally blowing her off. She kept a calm demeanor on the outside but her eye twitched and a vein popped out on the side of her head.   
"Oliver you're going to starve to death if you keep this up." Diana warned.   
"That's the point," Oliver grumbled. Diana was unable to produce a word. She just stared at his back; at the same grubby shirt he was wearing nearly a week ago. He still had soot on his face from the fire. She put her hand on his back and she could feel his ribs. There wasn't much body fat left on him since everyone was nearly starving beforehand.   
"Oliver please eat something," Diana pleaded. He still didn't reply. Diana put a hand on Oliver's arm, she immediately noticed his skin was ice cold and covered in goosebumps. She pulled his blanket over his exposed back. "When are you going to get up? You can't stay like this forever; you're going to have to get up someday." Oliver stayed silent but shivered in place. Diana set his mess tin on the ground next to his cot.   
"I'm leaving, ok? I want you to eat your food while it's still warm and I'll be back in an hour or so." Diana stroked Oliver's hair for several seconds before getting up and leaving. 

Diana had made her way to Oliver's tent carrying a folded blanket tucked under her arm. She spotted a square metal object laid just outside the tent flap. It was Oliver's empty mess tin. Diana stared at it unsure of what to think. Did he throw it out or did he actually eat today? She made her way into Oliver's tent to see him still cuddled up in a fetal position on his cot. She unfolded her blanket and laid it over Oliver. She sat down next to Oliver and lightly ran her fingers through his hair.   
"I know you're hiraeth Oliver," Diana said.   
"I guess that's what you call it," He mumbled under his breath. Oliver's stomach let out a growl. It continued to murmur on and off, the noise sounded like creaking wood amongst a boiling pot of water muffled behind a thin wall.   
"It sounds like your stomach is thanking you," Diana remarked.   
“Please leave me alone,” he muttered. Diana was put back by the callousness of his tone.  
“I’m begging you Oliver, please get up!” He could hear the obvious distress in her voice. “I’m telling you I know that it’s hard, but you can’t just mope around and waste away.”  
“Just watch me,” Oliver muttered offensively. Diana stood up and glared down at him, almost losing her temper. She was on the end of her tether.  
“Don’t you dare say that!” she ordered. “I’m trying my best and all you’ve done for the past week is blow me off! I’m not leaving until you get on your feet!”  
“I asked you to leave-”   
“Well, I’m not going to,” she stated with no intention of backing down. She reached her hands forward, forcefully clutched his arm and pulled on him.  
“OUCH!” he yelped. He aggressively threw the covers off and sat up. He had a terrifying glare in his eyes as he stared her down. Diana backed away frightened. He pointed his striped arm at the entrance before screaming, “Get out!”  
Diana stood frozen in her tracks. Oliver put his feet down and quickly stood up. Both his arms were striped. He limped towards her as she backed away towards the flap. “Leave!” he shouted. Diana pushed against the tent flap she gave Oliver a worried look before stepping out.  
A dreadful guilt came over Oliver moments after Diana left. He’d come to instantly regret his words. He stumbled back and sat on his cot with a feeling of emptiness. The hatred for himself grew. Putting a hand up to his face – in disbelief of his tone – he began to sob into the palm of his hand.  
“Why?” he peeped through his tears, “can’t I just do anything right?” He grabbed the dagger that laid with him in his cot and held it to his arm. His heart raced in his chest as he pressed the tip of the blade into his skin. “No,” he wheezed, shaking his head. He pulled the dagger away, letting it slip out of his fingers and fall onto the ground.   
He sniffed through his stuffy nose and let out a shaky sigh. After wiping his face, he stood up and sauntered over to the entrance of his tent, his feet were pale and bare, and he wore a filthy ripped shirt. His skin grew cold and he was quickly covered in goosebumps, but he didn’t care. His walking was slow and steady as if the wind could blow him over. He curled his toes against the cold hard ground and with a weak hand he pushed aside the tent flap. It was dark and gloomy outside, but the light still strained his eyes as he limped outside.  
To his left Diana stood leaning against a post hammered into the ground – staring at her boots. She looked up at him and he looked to his left at her. There was a remnant of anger still in her eyes. “Are you alright?” she asked in a bitter voice.  
“Yeah,” he peeped. He wiped away some snot that ran out of his stuffy nose.  
“Your nose and cheeks are flushed. Have you been crying?” she asked with a bit more passion in her voice. He nodded.  
“Yeah.” A wave of raw emotions came over him and he looked away as his eye began to water. He hobbled back into his tent – Diana followed him. She slowly approached him as he sat on his cot. “I’m sorry,” he let out with a heavy breath as Diana sat down next to him. He put his hand to his face as the tears began to pour from his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked. His diaphragm seemed to spasm as he inhaled sharp deep breaths. He put his arms around Diana and clutched her tightly as he let out his tears.  
Diana put a gentle hand to his back as he let out his cries of shame and guilt onto her shoulder. “It’s okay,” she affirmed. “I forgive you.”  
“Thank you,” he wheezed. “I’m sorry mama I’m sorry Emilia.”

[and later]

“Hey where have you been Oliver?” Grayson asked, Wyatt nodded his head in agreement.  
“Yeah, do tell,”  
“Sorry guys,” I muttered with a flat affect. “I’ve been in my tent…”  
“In your tent?” Grayson asked to clarify.  
“yeah, I’ve had trouble getting on my feet,” I replied. I was doubtful whether I should tell them about what happened.  
“Something happened?”  
“Yeah… My parents died.” I mumbled. They had a look of shock.  
“Sorry dude,” Wyatt replied.  
“Yeah man.”  
“I’ve been feeling down on my luck,”  
“You’ve got to pick yourself up man,”  
“Yeah. No crying either dude it’s a sign of weakness.”  
I wanted to walk away from them so badly they were only making me feel worse. I’d suddenly felt weak and even more helpless as before. I didn’t want to talk, I just wanted to get away.  
“Quit feeling sorry for yourself man,” Wyatt said. For some reason I hated that phrase and I wanted to lash out and strike him. They didn’t understand what it felt like to feel weak. I just wanted them to show some support, but they only offered words of superficial advice. I turned around and angrily sauntered away from them. Grayson followed me and grabbed my arm and I impulsively shoved him away from me.  
“Hey what’s your problem,” he shouted. I looked back at him with my tired eyes, not even saying a word before turning and walking away. My energy felt so drained and I couldn’t shake off the chills running down my spine. I just wanted to die. There was nothing that made life worth living anymore. Diana’s smiling face appeared in my mind and part of me felt uplifted enough to reconsider.  
I don’t exactly like Diana but for some reason she’s the only one who seems to understand, who seems to acknowledge this feeling of suffering. To me I was always under the impression that she could care less about those who suffered. Maybe she can relate to me in some way or another.   
I aimlessly hobbled out of the base. If I kill myself then maybe Diana will take on that guilt. I suppose that is why I should write a note to her. What should I say? You should be thankful and let her know she could not have done anything to stop it and ask her to remember me. Maybe I should just disappear and then kill myself. No one will ever find my body then and maybe it will feel less direct.  
I stumbled down a busy street away from the reservoir. The river gets deeper the further away you get from the reservoir. I need a place deep and wide enough, and away from a lot of people. There’s no guarantee no one will find me but if I am swept out of town it will decrease my chances of being found. I walked further north into the less occupied section of town and looked across a long stretch of a stone bridge that appeared vacant. I walked along its edge at stared down at the mesmerizing deep blue stretch of waves and water.  
I looked over the edge about where the center was and stared down at the waves. There is nothing to live for anymore, there’s nothing I want to do. I stared deeper and deeper into the waves as they bobbed up and down. My vision blurred as tears dripped from my eyes and ran down my face, dripping off my chin and onto the stone ledge. I took a steady deep breath through my nose. That was it. My head was no longer filled with my relentless bombardment of hateful thoughts. My consciousness felt as if it were a blank slate. I could jump with a clear mind. I leaned my crutch against the bridge and sat on the ledge letting my feet dangle pointing down on at the river as I slowly edged myself forward. There were chills running through my empty body as I anxiously bit at my lip. Time to say goodbye.  
There was a scrape of a footstep behind me and a charge of footsteps rushed at me from behind. My legs were slipping off the edge as I jerked my head around to see a grey blur reached for me and swung her arms around me. I was already falling off the edge making it impossible to prevent my descent but instead of slipping through Diana’s arms she clung to me as I plummeted into the chaotic waves below. I was enveloped by the cold thick water as bubbles obscured my vision. I reached for my waist and pried away the arm around me and pushed Diana away. She reached for my wrist, clawing at my arm as I tried to get away. I threw my head back and broke the surface gasping for air. Diana surfaced gasping for air, her hair clung to her face and over her eyes. She quickly lurched for me, reaching her hand towards my face, her nails scratching at my neck as she attempted to grab my collar as the relentless waves crashing into us. A wave slashed into my face making me inhale a mouthful of the disgusting water that made my diaphragm erupt with uncontrollable convulsions as I sank below the water’s surface. A frantic hand scratched at the back of my neck and firmly grabbed my collar as Diana tried to force her way to the shore. Diana managed to hoist me above water for a slit second letting me gasp for air before I plummeted again. I reached for my collar as it pressed tightly against my neck giving me a sensation of being choked. With a desperate strength I was dragged onto the bank and dropped against the hard clay shore, where I buried my head and coughed violently. Diana collapsed to the ground out of breath and wheezing for air. My lungs finally let up and I could breathe normally once again. A wet hand suddenly struck the side of my face dealing a stinging blow to my cheek. “You asshole!” she cried in frustration. She grabbed my shoulder and mildly struck the back of my head with a closed fist. She pushed me over and pinned me against the ground with her knee in my gut. She grabbed at my epaulets, her face wet and her eyes were red. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she cried with distress in her tired throat. I twisted my body and threw her on her side where I pinned her thighs down with my knees and I grabbed her shoulders. I was overcome with frustration as I pinned her down.  
“Why didn’t you let go?” I shouted furiously. “Why!?”  
“You’d be dead if I didn’t let go,” she barked.  
“That’s the point,” I screamed squeezing her shoulders.  
“Stop! You’re hurting me!” she cried out in distress. I let go of her and got off her legs.

The dim tent was suddenly disrupted by the bright sunlight coming through the tent flap. I looked up to see Diana's silhouette in my tent entrance.   
"Anna!"   
"Oliver!" Diana closed the tent flap and stormed into the tent. Her fists clenched and her eyes blazing. My body jolted upright as I was startled by the intense tone in her voice. She looked down at me with a pale face and a small cloud of steam rising off her head. "Tell me I'm dreaming!"   
"What!?"   
"Are you trying to kill yourself again?!" I felt a chill in my gut as Diana stared down at me. Her eyes demanded me to answer but I couldn't say a word. I couldn't even let out a peep as we stared intensely at each other. I couldn't bear the intensity and I looked away peeling away and looking to my right. "Oliver, show me your arms."   
I placed my hands on my knees and looked down at my feet. My leg trembled, bouncing up and down.   
"It's not like that," I mumbled. I slowly rocked back and forth. Diana sat down next to me.   
"Ok," Diana cooled down a bit. Her pointed eyebrows eased, and she let out a breath she'd been holding in. "What's it like?" I took a breath and let out a long soft sigh.   
"It's just- I just- I-I think-it-," I paused and then took a few deep breaths. "I don't know how to explain." Diana sat down next to me.   
"Oliver-"   
"I could've saved her, but I was too slow." I mumbled. Diana put her hand over mine giving me a strong comforting presence.   
"I know you're going through a hard time. I wish you weren't hurting so much but If you ever need anything, anything at all, well let’s just say I’m not going anywhere."   
I felt a chill ripple across my outer skin. My hair stood on end and lightly tickled the skin on my arms and legs. Diana's thumb lightly caressed my hand giving me a strange sensation on my skin. I briefly looked into Diana's eyes and instantly looked away. I couldn't look her in the eyes because of the tension. Diana held out her arms turning her chest towards me, gesturing an offer for a hug. I opened my arms and Diana leaned forward pressing up against me and tightly wrapping her arms around my ribs. She rested her boney jaw on my shoulder and rocked side to side.   
"You've got me so worried for you," Diana said. "Levine too."   
"I don't want to make you-"   
"I know, I know, it's not your fault." Diana said. "I don't want you to shut yourself away from us. Please promise me you'll stay close."   
"Anna..." Diana sat back and just sat face to face with me. She had such a warm and comforting smile on her face. "Thank you."   
"You haven't said it yet." Diana said. I sat thinking to myself and debating what I should say. I don't want to make any promises I wasn't going to keep. I slightly nodded my head.   
"I will," I muttered.   
"Promise?"   
"I… I promise."   
“You better not be lying to me,” she said in a quiet undertone. A wave of guilt came over me.  
“I’m not.” I had come to an interesting perspective of Diana that I had not felt before. From most of my experiences I found her to be shallow, inconsiderate, rude, and narcissistic but these past few weeks I had experienced that she was capable of showing a great deal of empathy. I could not tell if this was always a part of her or if she was changing.  
“”


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 15: 

[Note – There’s going to be a change in Oliver’s behavior. In this time frame he starts to show signs of mild to severe depression. Symptoms include mood swings, irritability, and aggressiveness. For example, maybe a street fight.]  
[As for Diana she’s become more responsible but about half of her narcissism still remains.]

[one year has passed since the draft]  
[insert filler]  
[Develop characters]

CHAPTER 16: Experience

I stepped forward and unintentionally jabbed my arm into the person next to me. "Sorry," I mutter. I looked over at him unaware he was a tremendous giant. His hair was short and dark, and his pale face looked down at me. He was so tall his head eclipsed the sun.   
"No, it's fine," His voice was incredibly soft and timid.  
"Are you in class B?" I asked, looking up at him. He nodded his head.  
"Y-yeah," He stuttered. "I'm S-Shawn. N-nice t-to m-meet you..."  
"I’m Oliver."  
"Olive-ver." He stammered and held out a hand which I respectfully shook. He had a mole over his eyebrow.  
"Troops! Form ranks," Levine commanded. Everyone quickly shuffled around trying to become somewhat organized.  
"Right turn march," Levine ordered and we all obeyed turning right 90 degrees and marching forward. We picked up our feet as we marched in a straight-line. I had miscounted my steps and I quickly lost my rhythm, someone stepped on the back of my heel.  
"Oi," I grumbled.  
"Sorry," The person replied. I tried my hardest to synchronize my steps with the girl in front of me who was marching with a strange childish energy. She was short and had long curly blonde hair.  
Who are you? I thought to myself. Grayson leaned my way and spoke under his breath. "Fine looking ass on that one. I haven't taken my eyes off it yet." We laughed under our breaths’ trying to stay out of trouble. The girl looked over her shoulder and glanced at both of us; she innocently grinned before looking forward. I tried to throw my voice over to Grayson.  
"I don't know. She looks kind of young." I remarked.  
"Ehh." Grayson waved his arm sarcastically. "Lots of girls look younger than their age.” My leg began to hurt unbearably, and I began to fall behind the group as they all passed me.

[introduce Madison and describe a day of training]

I dragged my feet with each step. My thighs were nearly cramping with each step and my feet ached in my stiff leather boots. I shuffled over to my tent and opened the flap. To my displeasure a girl was sitting on a giant suitcase in the right side of my tent.   
"Oi! What are you doing in my tent?"   
"Oh hi! If I'm not mistaken, you're Oliver, right?" Her voice was very stern and displayed a great amount of confidence.   
"Yeah, did someone send you?" I asked. The tent was so dark I couldn't make out any of her features, but I could tell her hair was long, dark, and put up in a high ponytail.   
"Yes, I'll be joining your squad," She replied. She walked up to me standing in the entrance and held out her hand. "Call me Lisa." I could make out her dark red hair and her dark blue eyes.   
"Nice to meet you Lisa," I reached forward and shook her hand. Lisa turned around and I followed her into my tent.   
"Well, you're going to have to put up with me for the time being," I could tell Lisa had a bit of an attitude based on the tone of her voice. I walked over and sat on my cot and watched Lisa as she popped open her giant suitcase and began unpacking.   
"So, uh are you still in training?"   
"No. I've been out on the front lines for nearly five years now."   
"Woah! No way. Really!?" I exclaimed.  
"Yeah." Lisa spread a mat out on the ground and sat down on it crossing bother her legs facing me.   
"You don't have a cot?"   
"Obviously."   
"I mean it shouldn't be that hard to find one,"   
"Diana already looked and came up with nothing. Besides, I'm used to sleeping on the ground by now," she replied. I took a firm seat on my cot and unlaced the soft boots that tortured my feet.   
"Why'd you join the squad?" I asked.  
"I've got nothing left really. All my friends have died."   
"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss,"   
“Don’t mention it,” Lisa’s tone had become quite passive aggressive. “If you feel that bad about it, then you could just lend me your cot.”  
“Yeah right, nice try,” I replied smugly.  
“How old are you?” she asked.  
“Seventeen,” I replied.  
“Really?” she asked. I nodded my head. “You look like you’re fifteen.” We were left in such an awkward and unbearable silence of unfamiliarity. There was nothing I could think of that I wanted to say as Lisa’s personality felt so hidden and distant, I wouldn’t even be able to dig it out even with a pick and shovel. In my eyes, she seemed adrift. I was under the strong impression that she didn’t value her life at all and just observed it through a glass pane. Was she dead inside? No, not at all, she just needed someone or something to help her break out of her shell. I’d never befriended anyone like this before, so I sat there in my cot cluelessly pondering with the thoughts drifting about in my cramped consciousness.  
“So,” she inquired. “Did you get injured during training?” she asked. I was hesitant to answer honestly.  
“No,” I muttered. “I had an accident.”  
“You’re disabled?” she asked surprised.  
“I have a gimpy leg… thank you very much,” I muttered.  
“That’s against regulation,” Lisa said. “They don’t allow people with disabilities into the army.”  
“I’m recovering,” I said.  
“I see…” Lisa said unconvinced.   
“This is definitely going to be strange,” I said.  
“Why is that?”  
“I’m not used to sharing a personal space with someone. I don’t like people watching me,” I said.  
“I don’t care,” Lisa declared. “I don’t pass judgement that much.”

"Diana why'd you make Lisa move in with me?"   
"I'm sorry I meant to tell you ahead of time," Diana apologized.   
"I'm just wondering why you couldn't move her into your tent?" I asked. Diana let out a brief sigh.   
"Because... Because Rayna just abruptly moved into my tent.”

A deck of cards fell out of a pocket in Lisa's bag and slid on the ground. "Shit," Lisa muttered. I scooped up several cards and handed them to Lisa. "Thanks." Lisa shuffled the cards together and stuffed them in the card box. I stared at the faded and worn cards. "Did you want to play."  
"Uh?" I snapped out of my daze.  
"Did you want to play a card game."  
"Sure,"  
"Ok What?"  
"Poker?"  
"I can do poker. Just lemme get washed first." Lisa grabbed a towel and left the tent.

CHAPTER 17: Rain

One gloomy afternoon the dark sky had been downpouring for several hours and yet we still trained. Cold rainwater dripped down from my hood splashing on my cold and soaked face. My fingers felt numb and my body quivered from the cold as I climbed the muddy side of a steep hill. Suddenly I heard a loud shout above me and a person flying down the hill slammed into me forcing me back until I was painfully pinned up against a tree stump.  
“Shawn!” I grumbled. The tall apologetic man was soaked to the skin and he breathed like an exhausted horse.  
“S-sorry,” he panted. “I-I lost my f-footing.” I straightened out my back – which was in a considerable amount of pain – as I stood up on my crutch.  
“You’re pushing yourself way too hard,” I panted. Shawn looked up at me with regretful eyes and he rested on his hands and knees. “Take it slower.”  
“Right,” he panted. A sudden gust of wind suddenly blew through my porous clothing and chilled my skin down to the bones. I cradled myself as I couldn’t help but shake violently. The strong wind and cold rain made for some unsavory elements. I took a sharp step forward and began climbing upward again. Grayson hiked up to us he huffed but he wasn’t nearly as exhausted as me or Shawn. He slowly passed us, not even batting an eye.  
“Are you two done making out? Come on, the hill isn’t going to climb itself!” he huffed slightly annoyed. I reached over with my free hand and kindly hoisted Shawn to his feet before I continued up the muddy slope. I relied on grabbing at the saplings and low branches to prevent myself from slipping on the dead leaves below my feet. Levine was waiting for me at the top, he had beaten us amateurs in half the time and his face showed no signs of exhaustion unlike ours.  
“Oliver you fell behind. It looks like Grayson beat you this time,” Levine muttered. I got up off of my knees and leaned against a pine tree as I tried to catch my breath.  
“I guess,” I panted. “I can’t win them all.” I heard a feminine voice grunt and grumble behind me. It was Madison, young yet bold she gripped a sapling at the edge of the hill and was hoisting herself up to the top. She crawled onto the somewhat level top of the hill and collapsed onto the carpet of dead leaves breathing erratically. A wet hand grabbed a small pine that grew directly along the edge. Shawn hoisted himself up before suddenly slipping out of sight.   
I anxiously hobbled up to the ledge and looked down the hill. Shawn had taken a minor fall and he laid across the ground catching his breath.  
“Shawn!” Levine shouted.  
“Yes major!” he replied.  
“Don’t crawl up the hill, try to stand as straight as possible,” Levine suggested. Shawn got to his feet, I leaned forward holding out an open palm and grasped a sapling with my other hand. He firmly gripped my numb hand and I hoisted him up onto level land. My lungs hurt with every cold breath of air I took in.  
I finally stood leaned on my crutch in my own silence, the showering rain dripped upon the leaves and the mossy ground making a soft unpredictable rhythm of pitter-patters sprinkling across the forest floor. No matter how hard I shook, no matter what tree I hid behind I couldn’t shake the torturous chill that covered my body. My toes had been curled for over an hour and yet they were still ice cold and numb. I aimlessly limped around with my free hand tucked into my armpit as we waited for the rest of the stragglers to finish scaling the hill. I looked amongst the two-dozen people who’d already made it to the top, so we weren’t missing many.   
I shuffled over towards the collection of trainees who’d gathered at the top as an attempt to find some warmth. Then all of a sudden something soft pressed up against my back side, Jakab stood behind me holding out his woolen blue and green checkered scarf. I gratefully took the bundled-up piece of cut fabric and looked into Jakab’s sincere eyes with immeasurable gratitude.  
“Thank you,” I stuttered with my cold and quiet voice.  
“No problem,” he replied before turning off and walking towards Levine, who gazed out towards the open land with dreamy eyes. Then I too decide to gaze upon the land through the gap between the trees that acted like a stage in an odd way. I could not see far, as the rain made everything appear so pale and misty. I could barely see a faded corner of the reservoir through all the white mist and everything behind it was clouded behind a dim white curtain. The neighboring hill to the left still remained darked from the charred ashes that coated the topsoil.   
Through my thoughts a vivid memory of the fire surfaced. It was of the burning forest as I ran up on it. Oddly enough my memories of that night are a complete blur, I barely remember anything that happened, but small memories oddly decide to surface at unexpected times.  
I snapped out of my daze and realized I had been clutching the scarf in my hand. I respectfully wrapped the warm wool cloth around my face and mouth. My neck felt a satisfying warmth flowing through my skin. Not long afterwards Levine gave the order to head back. We trekked on the muddy road that would lead us back to Mohtaha. The mud had become clingy and stuck to my boots as I limped along the road. Each step felt pointless and my numb legs trudged on without consciousness. My toes remained curled up in my boots making each step feel funny.  
The woolen scarf did end up helping as it was wrapped over my face and warmed the cold air before it went directly into my lungs. The stone roads of Mohtaha were quite hard on my knees unlike the mild dirt roads that soaked up much of the impact of each step.  
My eyelids suddenly felt heavy as I limped back through the familiar gates of the base. At this point my hobbling had become so unbearably painful each step was another painful limp. Miraculously I’d made it to my tent without collapsing into the mud. I was pleasantly surprised to see Diana sitting on my cot and Lisa sitting on the ground with a flickering lamp between them. They were looking directly at each other as if one of them had asked a question that had gone up in the air.  
Diana looked at me with a cheerful and spirited expression. “Hey Oli!” she called out with a blissful tone.  
“Hey,” I murmured with a pitiful worn-out voice. My underwhelming enthusiasm was considerably undeserved. I hung my soaked raincape and leaned my crutch on the tent post, then I limped over to my cot and took a seat.  
“Nice scarf,” Lisa remarked. “Where’d you get it?” I had just realized I still had it on.  
“It’s Jakab’s,” Diana remarked.  
“I forgot to give it back to him. I’ll do it tomorrow,” I stated. I bent over and unlaced my boots with my numb wrinkly fingers and slipped the cold waterlogged boots off of my aching feet. I reached forward and grabbed my ice-cold toes. My whole body felt terrible, my lower legs were numb, my heels ached, my torso shivered, my eyelids felt heavy, my nose and ears were burning, my back ached, and a blistering headache pulsed through my forehead.   
“Hey you! How was training today?” Lisa asked with a bit of newfound excitement.   
“Uhm,” I vocalized with a clogged throat. I raised my fist up to my mouth and cleared my throat with a grunt. “It was ok,” I replied. I ran my hand through my cold soaked scalp. “Today was by far the worst,” I muttered. “I’ve never been so underprepared for weather before. As you can see, I’m fucking freezing right now.” I spoke through my chattering teeth.  
“You’re getting your blankets all wet!” Diana remarked. “You should go and change,” her suggestion was more of a command. I stood up and hung my coat from the center tent post. I grabbed two articles of dry clothing from my suitcase and quickly switched out of my soaked woolies and into those. We all sat and listened to the continuous rain dropping down on the cotton tent canvas. Diana swept her hand through my soaked scalp and ruffled my hair. She pointed her pointer finger directly at my face and slowly thrust her finger forward and poked the tip of my nose.  
“Boop,” she peeped as she pressed my nose like a button. “Your nose is all red,” she remarked. I sniffed to try and clear my cold stuffy nostrils. She was just being nonsensical. “And it’s cold.” I grabbed Jakab’s scarf and wrapped it around my neck and face.  
“You look good in it,” Lisa remarked. “You should keep it.” I pulled the scarf up over my nose.  
“I’ll have to ask Jakab for it,” I mumbled through the thick layers of cloth. I slid my bare feet under my wool covers and held my blanket up against my chest as I shook violently in my cot. “So cold,” I stuttered. Lisa stood up and looked around at the floor of the tent.   
“The ground is getting soaked,” she muttered, grabbing her blankets, and sitting on the end of my cot cowering away from the growing puddle seeping through the floor of the tent.  
“Anyway,” I stuttered. “How was your day?” I muttered through my cold and chattering teeth.  
“Well,” Diana said, fiddling with some strands of her hair. “Nothing really. I stayed in here all day with Lisa and we played poker.” I rubbed my heavy eyelids with my cold wrinkled fingers as I failed to suppress a mighty yawn. Diana and Lisa also carried out the contagious yawning phenomenon.   
“Tch. Oliver is great at poker,” Lisa remarked facetiously. “He’s actually so great at it, he can have cards hidden in his sleeve without you even noticing.” I tried to laugh off the embarrassing exposition given about me, but it came out as a nervous chuckle. Lisa gave me a stark glare with an unamused face.  
“How do you still remember that?” I asked embarrassed.  
“How could I forget? Once a cheater always a cheater,” Lisa replied. She looked to Diana, “in terms of card games.”  
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Diana muttered as she curiously looked back and forth between me and Lisa. She then stretched her arms upward and arched her back. “Anyway, I’m feeling full of energy.”  
“Yeah, me too,” Lisa said.  
“That’s because you’ve done nothing but sit in my tent all day. I’m exhausted,” I muttered as I pulled my blanket up to my chin. Diana pulled a small tin box from her pocket and stuck a piece of hard caramel in her mouth. She stared at me with an amused face as she bobbed her head up and down jovially. I stared back at her, befuddled.  
“What?” I asked perplexed.  
“Nothing,” she replied buoyantly.   
“Whatever,” I yawned while I rubbed my eye with a knuckle. I laid back into my bed, resting my neck on my soft pillow and letting out an alleviated sigh as I closed my eyes. I faintly heard Diana mutter something to Lisa and she let out a sly chuckle. I opened an eye to observe the commotion and they stared down at me in a queer and unsettling way. “What?”  
“Nothing,” Diana mumbled, trying to suppress a laugh.  
“Are you making fun of me?” I asked dubiously.   
“Not at all,” she rebutted. With a queer sense of skepticism, I closed my eyes and turned on my side, pulling the blanket over my face. I had several minutes of merited rest before I felt a subtle ticklish feeling on my scalp. I shook my head to repel the trivial feeling. Several moments later there was another disturbance that trickled my hair. I raised my arm and swatted away a hand.  
“Stop it,” I commanded sharply. Briefly afterwards I overheard Diana laughing under her breath. There was another soft sensation that probed at my hair, which I slapped away with an even harder swing. “Let me sleep,” I groaned.  
“Lighten up, will you?” Lisa teased.  
“Yeah, come on,” Diana vocalized through her laughter. I retreated under my blanket.   
“Come on! Just let me sleep,” I griped. Diana held back an obnoxious laugh as she rocked around on my cot.  
“We’re bored,” Diana muttered jovially, “and we’ve got you to pick on.” I felt a sharp tug on my blanket which yanked it off my face. In a quick jester I snatched the blanket and yanked it back over my head.   
“Don’t pick on me,” I demanded innocently and rolled on my face. I felt a light touch slowly poke my back and slithered up to my neck. “Stop,” I griped. I felt someone climb onto my thighs and relentlessly poked at my back with their fingers.   
“How do you like being bugged you moron?” Diana asked sarcastically.   
“I don’t bug you,” I muttered.  
“Yes, you do!” she exclaimed. “You do that obnoxious thing where you blow into my ear like I’m some sort of instrument.”   
“It’s only to wake you up,” I muttered.  
“You’re also a handsy prick,” Lisa muttered.  
“I have never been handsy with you!” I truthfully declared.  
“Yes, you are,” Diana stated firmly.  
“Well of course I’ve been handsy with you, but I’ve never done anything to Lisa,” I firmly declared.  
“Yes, you have!” Lisa exclaimed. “You get up at like 2am and start doing weird ass shit.”  
“Nonsense! You’re pulling my leg,” I muttered. “If I do then explain!”  
“Oh, I can explain! You wake up muttering things about destruction in a high-pitched voice, it’s scary as hell,” Lisa said.   
“Honestly, Oliver,” Diana said. “That’s when you get handsy you prick.”  
“I’ve never done such things!” I denied.   
“Then… you’re a sleepwalker,” Lisa muttered. I grumbled under my breath.  
“I suppose seeing flashes of dark apparitions and talking to demons in my sleep is associated with that,” I mumbled.   
“What?!” Diana exclaimed.  
“No,” Lisa declared.  
“Oliver, you never told me you talk to demons in your sleep!” Diana mentioned.  
“Because I didn’t want to be looked at like some sort of weirdo,” I admitted.   
“How long has this been going on?” she asked.  
“I don’t know… Like two years by now,” I muttered.  
“So, you’re talking to demons in your sleep?” Lisa asked to clarify as if she did not fully believe me. She looked at me with a stumped and suspicious expression. She looked deeply disturbed as she looked down on me as if I were some odd alien that was disguised in human form. I felt ashamed I had felt I had revealed something that had been completely forbidden to experience.   
I did not intend to reveal my unconscious dialogues to anyone but the news that I had committed such odd behavior in the dead of night deeply troubled me and I acquired a great distrust for sleep. All I could mutter in the light of the knowledge was a simple phrase. “That’s scary,” I murmured in a soft voice. There was a sense of confusion about my relationship with Isabelle, I had come under the impression that I was being toyed with in some sadistic nature, that somehow this trans-dimensional telepathy was puppeteering my unconscious mind as I rested in a mentally weakened state.  
I saw Lisa laid conflicted as she tried to distance herself from me, I was almost terrified that she would accuse me of witchcraft of which I was reluctantly associated with but associated none the less. I found a miniscule amount of comfort in the fact that I did not think she was a whistle-blower of any kind and this would only effect the interpersonal relationship between us.  
Diana being much longer acquainted on the other hand would look at me with great incredulity as if I was one-in-a-million. She perceived me to be some kind of psychic bridge between demon and humankind, in her eyes this curse was some kind of mystical privilege that I carried the burden of.   
“Lisa why are you glaring at me like that?” I asked with a sensitive tone. She looked away with the intensity still in her eyes to the flickering lamp on the floor.  
“What? I’m not glaring,” she refuted unconvincingly. I could tell with the strange pitch in her voice that she was feeling very uncomfortable.  
“You’re lying,” I muttered, frankly. Somehow, I could read the emotions written all over her face. My jaw was becoming stiff from the persisting cold. Usually, Lisa would refute any claim that wasn’t true and swear to defend her narrative, but she sat in silence. She sat with an uneasy and worried eyes as she began picking at her thumbnail.   
“Are you warm enough?” Diana asked me with a concerned voice.   
“No, I’m freezing right now,” I muttered.

Obloquy   
[insert winter storyline]  
[develop Grayson, Shawn, Madison, Wyatt]  
[2 years after the draft]

CHAPTER 18: Love

My tent was pitch black and yet I was restless. I sat up, laced my boots, grabbed my crutch, and shuffled outside. I hobbled out of my tent and through the mucky pathways and right out the front gate into the plaza. I leaned up against the wooden wall of the base and stared at the ground. I stood there thinking to myself about life and death and about mom and dad.  
The gate squeaked as someone left the base. I heard their footsteps approaching me. I didn’t bother to look up at them. I was so indulged with my thoughts.  
“Thinking to ourselves, are we?” Diana asked. I let out a long breath through my nose.  
“I’m thinking about them,” I replied. Diana stood next to me against the wall, shoulder to shoulder.   
“Can you believe it?” Diana asked. I grunted. “We met over two years ago.”  
“Yeah...”  
“You’ve changed quite a bit honestly.”  
“I’ve changed? Look at you.” I felt a bit of happiness grow inside of me while I reminisced. “You used to talk about money all the time and you were so annoying.”  
“What?” Diana said with embarrassment. Her face grew a rosy red as she blushed. “Was I really that bad?” she asked anxiously.  
“It doesn’t matter, does it? You’re not the same person.” I felt her hand grab at my sleeve. I pulled my hand out of my pocket and hesitantly grabbed her hand. Her hand was warm and soft, and I was overcome with such a strong feeling of familiarity and comfort.  
“Your hands are cold,” Diana remarked.  
“They always have been.”  
I stepped away from the wall, limping forwards towards the dark empty streets, leading Diana as our hands remain bound together. We strolled down the dark empty street to our left and quickly got out of the village and into an empty field. I dragged my foot on the ground as I found it hard to use my crutch and hold Diana’s hand at the same time.  
“Oliver, where are we going?” Diana asked lightheartedly. The way she said my name triggered a strange feeling inside of me. The feeling was good and – oh boy – did it make my heart hoot. I oddly wanted her to say my name again with that same compassionate tone. It’s a strange thing when two people love each other, they rarely call each other by their names, but when speaking to someone else they say each other’s names all the time but not usually in the presence of each other. To call someone you are madly in love with by their name felt almost as strong and embarrassing as announcing your love directly to them.   
Diana walked beside me as we trudged through the soggy open field towards a hill. The moon was bright enough to light our path as we made for the bank of the reservoir. We climbed onto the bank and looked out at the water like we’d had done several times before. We planted ourselves right under the branches of a young pine tree that grew along the bank. Our shoulders touched.  
“It’s lovely as always,” I remarked as I set my crutch down beside me.  
“It’s cold,” Diana whispered. She laid her head down on my shoulder and closed her eyes with a smile on her face. “I’m going to be leaving soon.”  
“Where are you going?”  
“To the capital. I’m going to see my family for a few weeks.”  
“I don’t want you to be gone too long. What am I going to do without you?” I didn’t want Diana to leave so soon. It felt like a romance was building between us. She was constantly in my thoughts as I dreamed about her but of course dreams aren’t reality. I could just be obsessing over something that I’m imagining in my head and I’m just living in a giant delusion.   
“Your heart started pumping really quick,” Diana remarked. I felt a wave of embarrassment come over me. I desperately searched for something to say.  
“It’s nothing!” I refuted.  
“I didn’t ask what it was. I have a pretty good idea of what you were thinking.”  
“It’s nothing like that Anna!” I refuted. Diana let out a short laugh.  
“Ok Oli,” she replied sarcastically.   
“Don’t call me that it sounds stupid.” I stuttered.   
“And your name isn’t already stupid? You’re named after people who pick olives for a living.” Diana remarked humorously and I purposefully had a small laugh to shake off the embarrassment. I’d thought about the concept of ‘making a living’ as I searched for something to say.  
“When this war ends and Eroberer is destroyed; what will you do with your life?” I asked.  
“I don’t know,” she quickly answered. “Well, I sort of have an idea,” she corrected herself. “I – I…” She struggled to provide me with an immediate answer, and I concluded she hadn’t thought of the idea that much or at least not in a long time. “Well, you know the usual,” she vaguely answered. “Get married and have kids…”  
“Same,” I replied. “I’d like to get away from this place and move somewhere safe and isolated.”  
“Like a cabin in the woods?” she asked.  
“Yeah,” I muttered. A silence came over us. A dark shadow cast over the reservoir eventually even engulfing us in its expansion. A blanket of clouds blotted out the moon and we were left in darkness. In a quick moment I turned to face her directly, then leaned my face close to hers and we embraced each other with a pleasantly brief kiss.   
We gazed into each other’s eyes with dreamy expressions.

[character bond]  
[patrol scene]

CHAPTER 19: Friends

There was a break in the clouds and the moon light shined down on the reservoir's dark surface. Shawn and Grayson stood shoulder to shoulder with me, or at least Grayson did. We admired the beauty of the moonlit reservoir, which was a mucky sight by day but a glimmering jewel by night. The moon shined its cold distant light upon the coniferous trees around us, turning all their needles a flat pale blue hue.  
“What will this war bring?” Shawn asked innocently. The question was up in the air for several uneasy minutes.   
“Oliver,” Grayson started, “you’re the only one who didn’t join the cavalry among the three of us. Heck even Madison and Wyatt applied for the cavalry.”  
“I know,” I replied melancholically.   
“In a couple weeks' time we’ll graduate,” Shawn informed. “To be honest I don’t want to leave.”  
“Yeah,” Grayson added. “I don’t want us guys to split but it’s inevitable.”   
“Let's bet our asses we’ll meet again. I don’t know where and I sure as hell don’t know when, but I know we will someday,” I preached.   
“Ha! Promise?” Grayson asked with a big heart and a strong voice. He held out his hand with his palm facing the ground. I placed my hand on top of his and Shawn did the same shortly afterwards.

CHAPTER 20: Engineers 

  
"So, Lisa," I started to say, "Where are you from?" Lisa looked up from her book.   
"I live all the way up north by the mountains," Lisa answered. “I used to live even further east, and I moved to Aulganiya when I was 11.”  
"Why'd you join the squad?"  
"Well, I was promised good pay,"  
"Are you investing in anything?"  
"Yeah..."  
"What."   
"My daughter,"  
"You're a mom?"  
"Yes."  
"You certainly don't look it."  
"What'd you expect?"  
"I don't know."  
"You must think I'm petty for leaving my child behind."  
"No not at all,"  
"I'm doing what I can, being the only provider. The father passed away a while back,” Her voice was empty.  
"Major Levine told me once that I should treat my squad like family,” I replied with empathy.  
“My old commander told me the same thing. It’s delusional,” she replied, frankly. “That was before they all died.”  
“Are you afraid we’re going to suffer the same fate?” I asked.  
“I don’t know…”  
“You’re a veteran, what battles have you fought?” I asked.  
“I was at the Siege of Ykpanjlian. I was with the reinforcements sent to aid the Ykpanjiă warriors.” Lisa informed me. “It was useless. The Huns are just too efficient. We don’t stand a chance against them.”  
“Why not?”  
“They’re archers on horseback. Foot soldiers are useless against them,” Lisa muttered.  
“

[Oliver doesn’t have a citizenship so throw that in somewhere]

“Oliver,” Levine called my name. I looked up and stood at attention.  
“Yes sir?” I replied.  
“We’re leaving. The damn mail carrier hasn’t showed up, let's go submit your files ourselves.”  
“But sir-”  
“I’m not asking you Oliver. Come on!” I looked at Shawn and Grayson.  
“Sorry guys,” I murmured. I turned to Levine and began making my way to the stables.  
“We’ll see you in a day or two.” Grayson replied. Levine already had two horses ready at the stables. He helped me mount mine and we took off leaving the base and the town behind us carrying a minimal amount of supplies. Our horses trotted through the soft dirt roads of the countryside. For miles and miles all I could see was the never-ending wheat fields and the mountains to the south, but eventually those disappeared too. I could look in every direction and it all looked like a bleak flat world. Eventually the road stooped down, and we descended into an ugly quiet village. It was a bit run down but no different to the one in Mohtaha. All the houses all had those same orange clay shingles, and the roads were made of stone blocks. As we left, we pushed further into the great empty plains again before descending into another, down, then out into the plains again then finally descending into a livelier town than before where we stopped at a gigantic river.  
We waited for a local transport to take us across the slow river for it was too wide for anyone to build a bridge over. On the other side it felt like a different country, the roads were much straighter than the ones on the other side, that seemed to make pointless turns. The houses were a bit livelier and a few houses had grey shingles instead of orange.  
By late evening we had finally reached the capital. About halfway through our journey we’d stopped at a stable and traded in our exhausted horses for two that were fresh. We stopped at the outskirts of Cakmak where there was a military base with an inn. The gigantic city was lit an orange color and lights danced in all the tiny buildings' windows.  
I walked into the Inn as Levine took the horses to a stable across the road. There were many soldiers still left at the bar and in the dining room. Most didn’t bat an eye at me as I entered. A fat unkempt bartender wiped out the insides of beer mugs whenever he wasn’t serving anyone. He had an unpleasant face that was covered in black hair and his belly nearly hung out of his shirt. I found a secluded table at the far corner of the dining hall and took a seat there. Levine had burst in after a few minutes and quickly joined me at the circular table.  
The bartender eventually stomped his way over to us with an annoyed look. He spoke in a thick accent. “What do you two want?”  
“Just tea,” Levine replied in a very professional voice. The bartender looked to me for my answer.  
“Water,” I wheezed, my throat dry and itchy. The bartender marched away towards the bar. He quickly returned with a wooden mug and a teacup and handed them to us before leaving us to our thoughts. After about thirty minutes the bar had become quite empty and it was just us. Levine took a sip out of his cup. We sat in an uncomfortable silence.   
"So, where were you at with Diana before we left?" Levine asked.   
"Huh? Why would you want to know?"   
"I'm interested and I know you two were pretty close,"   
"Levine why do you let us stay close."   
"What do you mean?"   
"I mean I know nearly half the things we do are against the rules and regulations. So why do you let us off? Why do you not discipline us?" I asked. Levine tapped his fingers on the table as he stared at the wood for a couple seconds.   
"I guess I just have a soft spot for you and Diana. Nearly everyone knows it by now." Levine said before taking another sip of his tea. "I suppose after you lost your family, I knew you needed someone." Levine sat back propping his feet up on a chair across from him.   
"Levine what would happen if a soldier were to have a child?"   
"I hope you're not talking about anyone in particular."   
"No, no, I was just curious. That's all.   
"Well one would have the choice to leave or abandon the child."   
"That's one hell of choice to make."  
"Well usually there's a parent who can take care of the child."  
“I see,”  
Levine shuffled around in his chair and let out a long sigh. He put his feet down and leaned close to me. “I think there’s no better time to tell you about your squad.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I know you’ve been training for a long time, but I’ve never actually told you my plan...” Levine hunched over as if he was trying not to be heard. “It’s up to you but I would like you to go along with this.”  
“What is it?” I asked.  
“Demons,” Levine said under his breath.  
“Demons?”  
“There’s a hidden shrine with several unique blades in them. I’m certain you know what blades I’m talking about.”  
“Those cursed blades. With the spirits of demons trapped inside of them...”  
“I want you to take one of those blades.” Levine whispered.  
“Isn’t witchcraft forbidden?”  
“Let’s just say I know someone who can pardon us. This is war and we’re going to need any advantages we can get.” I paused and thought to myself about it.  
“I’ll do it!” I muttered. “If it’s the only way to destroy Eroberer; I’ll do it!”  
“I never doubted you,”

[submits citizenship]  
I walked the odd stone streets following Levine. The great white towers of architecture stood around me. Levine approached a building as white as bleached bone. It stretched and the rows of pillars stacked along its front. We walked past crowds of well-dressed men and women who all seemed comfortable around the mass of people. Many wore fashionable dark blue, yellow, and red suits and dresses. I’d never seen such a bright expressions of clothing before. Occasionally one or two young women would eye Major Levine and flutter their fingers at him like he was some sort of well desired object. One of them even gave me a glance and a flirty wave.   
Levine’s face showed a lacking impressment as he marched forwards ignoring them all. It didn’t surprise me as no amount of charm could interest Levine as he was already loyal to an individual. I couldn’t help but feel charmed, even trying to suppress the feeling. It had occurred to me that Levine was callous to the superficial charm. They were just attracted to the stripes sewn on his sleeve. I noticed it as I looked around the garden to all the young folks crowding around some of the higher ups as they laughed at their crude jokes.   
A fat old general had caught my attention as he spoke to two young ladies less than half his age. His face was burly, and he had an oddly shaved mustache that was bushy and hung below his chin. We walked into the great marble halls with architecture so advanced and artistic I thought such creation to be impossible, but it stood before me in all its wonder and awe.

I gazed around at the gigantic garden of rose bushes and flowers. In a large and cleared area there laid a stone platform surrounded by tall skinny trees. In the center of the elevated cobblestone platform stood a tall bronze statue who stood high on his tall pillar. His blade stuck into the ground before him while the bronze man had his palms resting on its hilt. As we approached it there was an heir of familiarity in his face, there was something so indescribably uncanny about it, but I couldn’t place it.  
“Major, who is that?” I asked as I pointed my finger at the gigantic statue.  
“The Merchant Warrior,” he replied. I looked to Levine just as he voiced those words, and it was as if I’d looked at two perspectives of the same person.  
“Is it you?” I asked. Levine let out a laugh as if I were foolish for asking.  
“No,” he replied without an ounce of deception and overpowering confidence. I instantly believed him. “Is it you?” he asked in a mocking manner.  
“You’re very funny Levine,” I replied lamely. Levine let out another inconsiderate laugh.   
“It’s a very pretty statue,” Levine remarked. “It catches his figure very well.”  
“Is he really that great of a figure? He ran away, didn’t he?” I asked. Levine nodded his head. “I would think people would consider him a coward.”  
“But it’s not every day that you come across a man who single handedly decided to face Eroberer. He’s a symbol of hope,” Levine replied boldly. “The world needs more men like him.” Levine turned to face me. “I’m guessing the Arundel’s wanted him to return someday.”   
“Will he ever?”  
“Oliver the statue is over thirty years old. The Merchant Warrior is dead,” Levine declared with a sense of hopelessness. I turned to gaze at the magnificent statue once more.  
“Then he did abandon us,” I muttered.  
“But you see, he couldn’t do anything. It was the idea that he gave people that remains,” Levine replied. I spotted a hawk land in one of the surrounding trees. There was something strange and mystical about it.  
“I see,” I muttered with new eyes.  
We had gotten a small room in the inn and I eagerly went to sleep that night as I felt weary and exhausted from the traveling. As I closed my eyes and strange visions would play out in my head.

I sat at the bar listening to the endless drumming from the floor above. I fiddled with my spoon turning it over and then turning it over again and then turning it over again. I looked over at the bartender who was wiping out the insides of the dirty beer mugs and placing them on a shelf above the barrels.   
“What is going on up there?” I asked. The bartender glanced at me with an annoyed expression.   
“Two guys, builders, they’re always building something. If they don’t build, they never feel satisfied!” The bartender waved his arms in the air and he sounded absolutely fed up. He grabbed a broom and slammed the end on the ceiling several times. I could see previous marks from the broom handle left of the ceiling. “Oi!” He shouted.  
“Sorry,” a muffled voice replied. I felt a sudden spark on enlightenment as I’d suddenly come to an epiphany. Engineers! Just what we were looking for! I jumped out of my stool and headed for the stairway. I felt ready to finally contribute to the squad as I trotted up the steps and onto the second floor. I looked down the dark narrow hallway that sharply veered right. I hobbled forward following the constant hammering. The hammering suddenly stopped, and I stood in the hall, waiting for the sounds to continue.  
I heard two odd voices begin to bicker near the end of the hallway. I slowly walked forward towards the door placed at the end of the hall. The door quickly opened, and two tall men emerged from the shabby apartment bickering at each other. They were so occupied they completely missed my presence. One of them was a bit shorter than the other, his hair was messy, he stood with a small hunch and he was wearing a blue flannel bathrobe and grey slippers. His skin was pale, his eyes were icy blue, and his beard looked like it hadn’t been cut in two weeks. He spoke like a nut right on the edge of going insane. The taller one spoke rudely with a quicker and informal dialect. His hands were filthy, his hair was messy, his blue pants were stained with brown oil smears, his black coat was shabby and filthy, and he had an odd pair of goggles placed on the top of his head.  
“Fred. Fredrick,” The tall one said in his funny accent. “Come on mate, I’m nearly finished. I just need the equation you solved. I need the sheet for just a couple hours.”  
“Dan,” Fred said while firmly pointing knife-hands at Dan's face. “Last time I gave you a blueprint, Dan, it was fucking obliterated.” Dan Let out a frustrated groan and rubbed his face.  
“Jesus Fred! Years of collecting supplies and doing research I never thought you’d be the one to try and stop me.” Dan replied. Dan pulled his hands away from his face and revealed all the black oil he smeared all over his face. Black finger marks were smudged on his cheek's eyelids and forehead.   
Fred threw his head back and laughed hysterically at Dan. Dan, wide-eyed, slowly raised his hands and stared into his palms completely dumbfounded. Fred looked at me wide eyed.  
“Holy shit,” Fred shouted. Dan slowly turned to me.  
“What the hell are you doing standing there, mate?” Dan asked rudely.  
“Uh... I heard you two were engineers.” I muttered.  
“Perhaps...” Dan muttered.  
“Let’s take this downstairs and talk this out,” Fred suggested.   
“Absolutely,” Dan agreed.  
“Sure,” I replied. I turned around and slowly walked towards the stairway.   
“Ay, what’s your name?” Fred asked.   
“Oliver,” I replied while descending the first few steps.  
“I had a cat named Oliver,” Dan replied.  
“Two,” Fred corrected.  
“And I was about to say I had another cat named Oliver Junior. Anyway, I'm Dan and that cunt is Fredrick.”  
“Oh, fuck off.”   
What have I done? Who are these people? We all sat down at the bar. Dan and Fred, I swear I’d heard those names before.   
“Anyway, Oliver what’s up?” Fred asked.  
“I, uh,” I picked at my nails trying to think of something to say. “There’s a squad that I’m in, that’s not complete.”  
“Don’t beat around the bush,” Fred interrupted.  
“I heard you two were engineers and we need some guys who are mechanically inclined,” I replied.  
“Oh, a squad. I don’t know,” Dan replied. “Where would we be working from?”  
“Mohtaha,” I answered. They looked at each other with uncertainty.   
“Mohtaha is quite far.” Dan replied. “I don’t think we can haul our stuff that far.”  
“Please,” I paused. I caught myself beginning to beg. “Consider it. We’ve been looking for years... Dan, Fred I really want you two to consider it.” Dan and Fred? Dan and Fredrick? Dan-Fredrick Brothers inc.?  
“Sorry mate,” Dan replied. The bartender slowly approached us with an odd grin on his fat hairy face.  
“You have a squad you are recruiting for?” He asked.  
“Yes.”  
“Ok.” The bartender took a deep breath and tried to hide his smile. Dan and Fred stared at him with wide eyes. “Dan, Fredrick I’m officially evicting you from this place.” Fred’s face cringed and Dan laid his head in his hands letting out a frustrated groan.  
“Please sir,” Fred groaned.  
“You two take what you can carry and you’re not getting your stuff back until you pay all the blasted rent you owe me.”  
“Come on, we can pay it!” Dan said.  
“And you said that 9 months ago! I want you two out by the end of today!” The bartender shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. “Don’t come back until you have 3 marks!”  
“3 marks,” Fred repeats outraged. “That’s outrageous!” Dan turned to me.  
“When are you leaving?” He asked. I looked to the clock on the wall and read the time.  
“In an hour,” I replied. Dan and Fred leaped out of their seats, ran across the room, and sprinted up the stairs. Fred slipped on a step and slammed his knee into its edge.  
“Fuck me!” He shouted. He continued and quickly climbed up the stairway crawling on his hands and legs like some four-legged animal. I felt sorry for them. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted them in my squad. I let out a sigh.  
“They are nuts.” The bartender muttered under his breath. He pulled the cork off a whiskey bottle and poured himself a rather large shot. I jumped down from the stool and left the Inn to look for Levine. Fog flooded the muddy streets. I could barely see anything 10 meters away. I ran to the stables, threw the large doors open and quickly hobbled down the rows of horses towards Levine.  
“Major Levine!” I hollered. I felt a huge smile sprout on my face. “Major!”  
“What is it Oliver?” Levine asked lamely.  
“Two engineers are coming with us!” I said slurring some of my words.  
“You’re joking right?”  
“I’m not!” I refuted. “Can we get two more horses?”  
“Yeah, I can make it happen,” Levine replied. I hastily left the stable. A large suitcase flew out one of Inn's windows and landed in the mud. Moments later a rope was flung out of the window and Dan rappelled from the second story carrying a leather briefcase and an odd hat on his head. Shortly after Dan hit the ground the rope was hoisted back into the apartment and Fred closed the window. Moments later Fred rushed out of the Inn, still in his robes and slippers, carrying a mahogany leather suitcase. Fredrick jogged through the mud waving frantically at me.  
“Hey Otto- I mean Oscar!” He called out. Dan rushed over hoisting the giant framed suitcase.  
“It’s Oliver, you wazzock!” Dan said in a demeaning tone.  
“Why’d you rappel from the window?” I asked. Dan leaned in close.   
“That twat in there thinks I’m going to come down later with the room key. So, I've got the bloody key and Fred locked the flat door on the way out.” Dan divulged.   
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I heard Levine mutter under his breath. Dan and Fred sprung into a straight posture tapping their heels together and giving a salute.  
“At ease, gentlemen,” Levine said in his usual lame tone of voice. He looked up and down at both of them, especially at Fred who was still in a bathrobe and slippers. “Are you serious, Oliver?”  
“Please sir we won’t disappoint,” Dan said.  
“Well, Oliver, ready to disappoint Diana?” Levine asked cynically.  
“Absolutely,” I answered sarcastically. 

[describe journey back]  
[insert sketchy Dan and Fred dialogue. Make the Beatles references from the 50s (British politician sex)]

“Hey Dan look at this meme,”  
“Fred we’re from the 50s. Memes haven’t been invented yet.”  
“Oh shit. You're right.”

“He spends hours and hours watching porn when he thinks I’m not looking,”  
“My precious.”  
“I know you have something to do with it.”  
“Good gracious me,” he said holding up a playboy magazine.  
“Whatever you did you’ve officially been labeled [a disturber of the peace] a peace of s h i t.” (yeah, I know I spelled piece wrong. IT WAS INTENTIONAL)

“you think that’s Rubbish ay?”  
“Or as the Yanks would say Bologna,” 

[insert filler]

[Nero is able to create a vortex when the planets align that takes him back to the last time the planets aligned. Which is over 1500 years ago. Next time the planets align is May 6, 2492. So, in eight years.]

CHAPTER 21: Meeting  
[Levine goes to fight a battle at the front]  
“Good to see you Levine,” Lloyd shouted. Levine’s horse rode up behind the Commander and trailed him. Lloyd looked back at him and captain Jakab.  
“Commander,” Levine greeted him. “Let’s get right to the point, what's the reason for this gathering?”  
“It was a sudden call for me too,” Lloyd replied. “Alexandur summoned us with a brief notice. All the higher ups from all over are being summoned to this gathering.”  
“Interesting. Any secret info you can divulge with us?” Jakab asked. Lloyd shook his head.  
“No, I just received a letter asking me to get Major Levine and ride to Gunterberge as soon as possible,” Lloyd replied.   
The trio rode directly east, crossing the shielding mountain range that walled-in most of Aulganiya and after three days they had finally reached their destination.   
Where they attended a concert with Kanye East feat, Brake, Cardi A, Snoop Kat, and Michael A Jordan. Where they witnessed Callmecarson 1v1 Onision.

CHAPTER 22: Graduation 

I stood among the ranks of cadets standing tall, standing firm. I couldn’t tuck away my smile. I tried to look serious, but my insides were shaking violently with excitement. I felt I was turning a new leaf, or I was starting a new chapter. Finally, this cursed training was going to end, but there was a slight uneasiness hovering over me. It’s not going to get better from here. Lieutenant Colonel Levine paced back and forth in front of the cadets.  
“Cadets, it’s been two very tough years training but you’re not just common soldiers you’re elites in combat! I would like to say I’m very proud of all of you that have passed. It’s unfortunate that for most of us our last few hours we’ll be spending together. To all of you... be brave be resilient and most importantly be smart! All of you are no longer trainee's, cadets, go have some R&R!”   
Nearly all the cadets, including myself, joyfully rushed out of the sparring field to the outdoor kitchen all of us led by our noses by the smell of food. I forced myself from the crowd of cadets and broke away from the crowd. Two giants and dark red hair caught my attention. Dan and Fred stood side by side behind Lisa. They all had bright smiling faces and Lisa had something in her hands.   
I rushed over and was greeted by warm smiles and congratulations. Lisa held forward the Items she was holding so carefully. One was a dark green bottle of wine and the other was a bright red rose with a note tied to it.   
“A fine treat from back home and Diana sent the flower.” I grabbed the bottle from the neck and carefully took the rose from Lisa’s hands. The stem was a little limp and some of the outer petals had withered edges. “That thing is lucky to look like that after being sent from so far away.”  
“Hey congratulations on your graduation,” said Fred.  
“Yeah congrats,” Dan chimed in. Lisa only slightly nodded her head in agreement.  
“Thanks guys...” I opened the folded note tied together with a soft red ribbon.

Dear Oliver,  
Congratulations graduating. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see you in person.): But I’ll see you soon!  
With Love,  
Diana...   
XOXO

What? I rub my eyes for a second and read the paper again just in case I was seeing things. This is all wrong. Anna is never this ‘Lovey Dovey’ I swear.  
“Wow. I didn’t know they still use XOXO in this time,” Dan muttered. I quickly folded the note.   
“Ay! That’s none of your business!”  
“Huh? What do you mean in this time!?” Lisa asked, frankly. Dan stuttered while replying.  
“I meant… in this country.”  
“Anyway, are you seriously having a romantic relationship with a superior officer?” she asked rudely. I didn’t answer. “She’s also the squad leader, do you have any idea how many problems this is going to create?” I shrugged.  
“She’s right, mate,” Dan agreed. “It’s quite unprofessional.” I felt under attack and I wasn’t sure what to say. I agreed with them, but I wasn’t about to follow their advice.  
“Come on let's join the party,” I mumbled. I limped away from them towards the party. 

[insert drunk tavern stuff]  
[Lisa cries]

“Gods I–” Lisa held her hand up to her face and began crying drunken tears. She spoke with slurred words. “I’m such a horrible mom.” Dan placed a comforting hand on her back.  
“Oh dear,” Dan mumbled as if he somehow expected something like this.   
“Dan-Da-Dan,” Lisa grumbled. “Take me outside. I’m gonna puke.”  
I watched Dan guide Lisa out the door of the tavern as if she were trying to balance on an imaginary tightrope. Me and Fred were left in an awkward silence as we stared at each other.  
“Yeah. Lisa’s a mom,” I mentioned. Fred nodded his head.  
“Good to know,”  
“Oi! Don’t get it in your hair!” Dan shouted from the street.  
“I’m sorry Dan!” Lisa cried with a drunken guilt. Fred shook his head and laughed. I wanted to laugh at her too, but I felt really bad for her at the same time. I could feel the guilt in her voice, and I’d come to understand that Lisa’s decision to leave her child behind to fight wasn’t an easy decision to make and that she was very conflicted with herself. I had suddenly understood why Lisa drank so much – she was trying to drink away her guilt.

[Dan and Lisa development]

She threw her head downwards and puked into the Ogosta river. He stood at her side patting her back.  
“Thank you, Dan,” she gasped while wiping her mouth with her sleeve.  
“You’re quite an intense drinker,” He remarked.  
“It’s a bad habit,” she replied. “Dan.”  
“Yes?”  
“Do you have any children?” she asked. He took a deep breath.  
“I did,” He replied with a hollow tone. Lisa came to the realization of what he meant.  
“I’m so sorry Dan,”  
“It’s past,”

“In a few days we’re going to be fighting...” Lisa muttered. I look over at Lisa who’s also laying down on her cot with her hands resting behind her head. Dan and Fred don’t reply so I decided to not leave her statement hanging.  
“In two or three days we’re leaving to get one of the cursed blades.” I mentioned.  
“Do you think you’re up for it?” Lisa asks softly.  
“I’m as ready as I ever will be,” I answered.  
“Magic is not something that should be tampered with,” Dan mentioned in a serious tone as if he held a different position on the matter but was not inclined to say it.  
“Do you believe in it?” Lisa asks him.  
“In what?”  
“Magic.”  
“Oh yes. Of course, I believe in it.” Dan replies in a quick tone. “I’ve witnessed my fair share of it.”  
“Wow. When was that?” Lisa asked. Dan thought to himself for several moments and grumbled in his throat before speaking.  
“A long time ago, me and Fred had met someone who’d created a magical liquid that could freeze and preserve any living thing that’d been completely submerged in it.”  
“How did you know if it wasn’t a sham?”  
“He tested it on us.”  
“You and Fred?” Lisa asked.  
“Yup.”  
“What was it like?”  
“Well, he was right. It’s like you no longer exists like a deep, deep sleep and when we got out of it, we weren’t a day older.”  
“Wow. How long were you in it?”  
“A long time,” Dan muttered.  
“Like a few days or hours?” Lissa asked. Dan didn’t answer and I took it as a yes.  
“So, Oliver what’s this blade like? How do you know which is the right one?” Fred suddenly asked.  
“Well,” I start. “It looks like it was carved from stone. It’s like a giant crystal that’s a silvery light blue color and slightly transparent.” 

[insert peninsula scene here]

Dan held up a strange looking book. It had a crusty brown leather cover and most of the pages were frayed.   
“Come take a look at this,” Dan said.  
“What is it?” Fred asked.

“Hey!” A sturdy voice called out from behind the tent canvas. I looked up from the book a little startled.  
“Come in,” I replied. An arm reached through the crack and pushed the flap to one side. As I expected, it was Levine. He walked in with a very casual manner with his hands in his coat pockets and a laid-back look on his face.  
“Hello, Oliver.” He greeted me.   
“Hi, lieutenant colonel,” I replied. He walked over and sat down next to me on my cot. He looked over my shoulder at the journal in my hands. I felt a wave of uneasiness come over me. The Lieutenant colonel never gets this close unless he’s going to discipline me.  
“What are you reading?”  
“A journal I found,”  
“That thing looks old where’d you get it?”  
“On that peninsula in the Ogosta reservoir.” “Levine, are you the Merchant Warrior?”  
“No,” “The merchant Warrior goes back before my time... Around 35 years ago. I’m 33. Besides, I know very little about merchandise.” “To be blunt, I think the merchant warrior was ou–your father.”  
“You’re messing with me, right?”  
“No Oliver, you’re not a nobody. You’re special.” Levine replied.  
“Tell me what you know about the Merchant Warrior!”  
“Nearly 36 years ago he rose up an army to destroy Eroberer. He made it very far, but he failed a decisive battle and he disappeared into these parts with a wife. That’s all I know.” “He was actually remarkably close with the Arundel's. I’d talk to one of them for better details.”  
“I don’t know any Arundel’s,” I replied.  
“Yes, you do. You’re awfully close to her.”  
“Anna?!” I asked. Levine nodded his head. “Anna is an Arundel?!”  
“Yep.”  
“Well how come she never told me?”  
“I guess she didn’t want the attention,” Levine answered. I slapped the book closed and stood up.  
“I need to see Anna,”   
“Easy there. Don’t you want to approach this logically.”   
“I knew Anna’s parents weren’t nobodies, but I had no idea she was a noble.”   
“

[insert scene between Oliver and Diana]  
[day after]

I waved to Shawn and Grayson as we walked away from each other.  
“Who are they?” Dan asked as we walked away.  
“They’re my friends. They’re going into the cavalry regiment.”   
“So, it’s not likely you’ll ever see them again,” Fred added.  
“Yeah, but I made a promise to them that we’ll meet again... I don’t know where or when I just know we will-”  
“Some sunny day,” Dan said as if he were trying to finish my sentence. He chirped the words like it was a line from a poem. “Sorry it reminded me of an old song from way-back-when.”  
“Mate, you still remember that song?” Fred remarked.  
“It was his words that reminded me of it.”  
“You remember that night-show?” Fred asked Dan.  
“Which one?” Dan asked to clarify.  
“Um... The one with all the veterans there.” Fred snapped his fingers several times as he searched for an answer and after one final snap, he pointed his finger at Dan.  
“Dame Vera Lynn sings the hits from the blitz,” Fred articulated. The odd array of words puzzled me. It made as much sense as gibberish. I wanted to ask what a “Hit from the Blitz” meant but they were so infatuated in the conversation I felt it would be terribly rude to interrupt them.  
“Yeah, yeah,” Dan replied ecstatically. “What did she sing at that night-show?”  
“When the Lights Go on Again,” said Fred.  
“White Cliffs of Dover,” Both said at the same time.  
“And We’ll Meet Again,” Dan finished.

[journey to the portal]  
[mention a journey to the capitol for a meeting]

“Where are you going lad?” a voice called out. I pulled back on the reins, startled from the voice and looked back to see Dan walking over towards me.  
“Dan!” I exclaimed. My attempt to ride away undetected was completely foiled.  
“Where are you going so early in the morning?” he asked.

Up ahead of us at the cavity in the rock a man stood there staring at us as if we were expecting us. His gray uniform almost made him blend in with the surrounding rock, but his deep red epaulets gave him away. His hair was a light brown like coffee with too much cream. His white and grey stead remained tied to a Scotts pine behind him.  
“Is that... Henry?” Diana murmured to herself.  
“Levine!” Henry called out and he waved to us.   
“Henry!” Levine called back his tone filled with a bit of joy. He quickened his pace marching ahead of all of us toward Henry.  
“Who’s Henry?” I ask in a low mutter.  
“It’s Major General Henry Arundel,” Diana answered. “He’s my second oldest brother... But I had no idea he was conspiring with the Lieutenant Colonel.”  
The plot thickens in my mind. The second eldest son of the most powerful family in all Aulganiya is conspiring in witchcraft with the Lieutenant Colonel.

[describe the cavern and the portal]  
[describe the shrine]

As soon as I gripped the weightless blade the room became shrouded in pitch black and then the ground under me formed. I stood on something invisible but completely smooth like perfectly cut stone, it was cold and frictionless. I stood on it as it seemed to float in the clouds. I thought I was in the heavens as the clouds were pure glowing gold and red. I skin felt warmed in the rays of golden light all around me. I marveled looking up at the endless golden clouds. I felt Physically bound to this world. It was definitely no dream.   
"I'm starting to think this whole contract thing isn't a good idea," Isabella said. I looked around to the sound of her voice.  
"What? Why?" I stood up confused. Isabell laid on her stomach swaying her bare legs back and forth. Her head tilted resting on the palm of her hand and her other arm tucked under her chest. I was once again introduced to her dark red eyes.   
"I think you’re a nice person Oliver... This war, you don’t deserve it. You should just take your life and run with it before this war kills you.”  
“You’re wrong... I’ll live... and I’ll get to see the end of this god forsaken war!”  
“Well, aren’t you optimistic... The only flaw I see in that is your contract with the military states you should be willing to die for your country.” “Listen it’s not so bad even in here.” “It’s a world of imagination or like one giant theater you can watch for hundreds of years countries battling with one another. You can spectate like a ghost, like me, I’ve been watching you... I’ve seen everything you’ve done.”  
“Why did you pick me?”  
“Well, your father, the Merchant Warrior really got my attention with his antics. Waging war on Eroberer and he even got close to winning the final battle. I knew then I had to watch him. After I saw you born, I was certain you were meant for great things. That’s why I’ve been in contact. It’s why I talk to you in your dreams and here you are.”  
“But that contradicts what you said before. You don’t want me to fight with the Arundel's!”  
“I'm saying you’re not going to reach your full potential by sticking with the Arundel army.”  
“This place, what is it?”  
“It’s a figment of my imagination. I am the ruler of this Lonely paradise whatever I wish for it comes to me. But... It’s not real. For instance.” She snaps her fingers. The sky suddenly changes, and I now stand in a wooden cabin. A woman in a dress stands before me, the dress is casual and bland, and she wears an apron over it. She’s carrying something small in her arms wrapped in blankets it has small arms and legs. The woman's hair is a light silky brown and tied back. She looks up at me with her beautiful hazel eyes, looking into my eyes. I instantly recognized her.  
“Anna...” I mutter. She looked over a decade older. In her arms she cradled a baby. It was a vision in some sort of future.  
“Welcome home, darling.”   
“Who’s the kid?”  
“Do you have amnesia? He’s our kid...” “How was work?”  
“Good,” I peeped. Diana strokes our child's hair as she cradles him tightly.  
“Aurel missed you today... I missed you today.” Aurel grabbed some of Diana’s hair and stuck it in his mouth. There was a burst of footsteps all light and marching.  
“Papa!” A high-pitched female voice called out. A young girl 8 or 9 years of age was running towards me with her arms open. She hugged my leg. Diana laughed under her breath.  
“Camelia missed you today too.”  
“Papa! Papa come on! Let's go outside!” Camelia pleaded.  
“Sure...”  
“Easy Camelia he’s been working all day.”  
“Come on please!” Camelia ran over to the sofa in the living room and began jumping up and down on. “Come on! Come on!”  
“Okay.” I walked over to her and she jumped down and ran for the door.  
…  
“You’ve been very quiet today,” Diana remarked. I tucked myself under the covers as Diana stood by the side of the bed in her night gown.  
“Sorry it’s just a little bit of a shock...” Diana climbs under the covers she reaches over and holds me under my arms.   
“I know we haven’t had much time to talk so I would like to say: I’m proud of the man, the father, you’ve become.” I let out a reluctant sigh. Suddenly Diana had disappeared, and Isabella laid in her place.  
“See what you can accomplish. I guarantee you won’t live this kind of life at your current place.”  
“What’s the purpose of this?!” “Why?!”  
“It wouldn’t be so bad here. Just give in. Just give me your body and you can stay here forever!”


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER

The crystal blade leaked out a dark black smoke that manipulated itself, taking the form of Oliver. The smoke rendered itself into flesh, skin and his clothes formed around him. His eyes were shimmering a neon blue. He sauntered towards the others with poise.  
“Sorry guys but this in my body now,” Oliver muttered. Levine drew his sword.  
“He’s been possessed!” Levine shouted, quickly drawing his sword. Oliver swung his blade forward, sending a blast of mana that knocked Levine off his feet.

[insert fight scene]  
[sorry]

[they leave]  
[the portal drops them off in a weird town and they kill a witch]

[out of sequence]   
"Isabell-," She interrupted me with a snark.   
"I can't believe you came," She turned away from me and crossed her arms.   
"But don't you see I had to. I have to do this I have no other choice,"   
"Please Leave me alone,"   
"I don't understand why you're saying this. You wanted this contract, Right!?"   
"I'm not just some cold monster. I have emotions just like you.”   
"I was a seraphim a long time ago,"   
"Seraphim? Like an angle?   
"Yes."   
"What? How are you a demon now?"   
“Listen just shut up! I don't want to fucking tell you." 

[OUT OF SEQUENCE]  
Isabella had a melancholic look in her eyes. She seemed like the embodiment of eternal pain and sadness. I turned my attention to Isabella's bizarre but quite beautiful dress.   
"Your dress is beautiful," I remarked.   
"Yes, thank you."   
"How was it made?"   
"I made it," Isabelle replied. Isabelle stopped in her tracks and gazed out at the reservoir. She walked over to the shore. I followed her.   
"Isabelle, are you ok?" I asked. She walked into the water until her ankles were submerged. It began to sprinkle lightly. She didn't answer. She held out her hand. The rain had quickly become more intense. Isabelle took a step back and sat down on the rocky shore. I walked over to Isabelle and sat down next to her. "Isabelle, is there something wrong?"?   
She picked up a flat stone and inspected it in her hand before throwing it at the water. It slapped the water 's surface and skipped and skipped and skipped and skipped for a long way. The rain became a complete downpour each drop of rain was felt. My soaked hair stuck to my face and water dripped down my face. Isabelle finally looked my way and looked me in the eye. I'd come to a sudden realization about Isabella, she wasn't like everybody else, I'd come across people like her before, like people on the street, like people in the base. People who carried a disease, a disease that made them unlike everybody else, a downer, melancholy, depressed.   
"You don't have to sit in the rain," Isabelle said. "You're going to get sick."   
"Isabelle, is there something you want to tell me?"   
"No."   
"I think I get it. You're a downer, aren't you?" Isabella let out a long sigh.   
"Is it that easy to read?"   
"Yeah."   
"I've been locked away for several hundred years. I wasn't able to talk to anyone, well I did talk to someone, but It really takes a toll on your health,"   
"Who did you talk to?" Isabelle hesitated before answering.   
"Narumi..."   
"Who's Narumi?"   
"He's a demon. Very rarely we could communicate with each other.   
"So, he's a lower demon?"   
"No."   
"Wait, you said you could only communicate with people here."   
"Mhm,"   
"And all the powerful demons have been locked away."   
"Not Narumi. He managed to escape."   
"What? How?"   
"Just like me, he was chosen."   
"Where is he?" "What side is he on?"

[out of sequence]  
I sat down on an old bench in a courtyard in front of a school. Isabella sat down next to me but kept her distance. I brainstormed for things to ask her, but I was clueless how to start a conversation.

[Criticisms: Oliver doesn’t have a personality?]  
Is this true?  
Yes and no.  
What is Oliver’s personality? What are his values?  
Oliver is a median at first, he wants to say in the middle, he doesn’t want to pick sides.  
Character summary: he is forced into the Aulganiyan military so his has no investment. Investment; career: finding ones way in life. Becomes disabled, because of this his parents are killed, and he can’t do anything about it. He’ll use this magical sword to enhance his physical abilities and repair his leg. End goal: get revenge. 

Book 2

Beginning in the middle of the end chapter 2  
[make changes to the introduction of Nero. Changes: Nero appears before Eroberer and isn’t locked away]

April 6, 46   
Today is April 6th, the day of my birth and today is my 13th birthday. Elvus gave me this book as a present today and I love him very much. 

April 7,   
I was hoping for more surprises yesterday but nothing else was given to me. Elvus definitely let me down. (like he does every year). If he is the most powerful man in the village, why couldn't he give me more of his souvenirs since he can just get more of them. He has all these powers, but he doesn't choose to use them around the village. 

April 10,   
Elvus told me that when I should write I should write to a future interpreter, to someone who is reading this long after my lifespan ends. So, from this point on I shall write in further detail. 

April 15, 46   
Today I walked the forest surrounding my village from dusk till dawn. I stopped down by a river. There were several fish in the river that day. Aria told me today. Aria is Elvus's wife. She is like a mother to me since Elvus is 46 and our father cannot manifest himself to watch over us. Aria says to me that even though she looks young she is much older than Elvus. 

The village is populated by 9 of Elvus's children and grandchildren. 

May 6, 46   
The full moon is bright tonight. 

May 7,   
The village gathered for our ceremony every month today. Elvus while speaking to Primus on his podium stared at me. His eyes looked divine. I'd never seen it before. They twinkled and they glowed. He wasn't Elvus anymore, he was Primus. 

May 13, 46   
Why can't I have the power Elvus has? We are both sons of Primus. 

May 14,   
Elvus tells me that Primus only gave him powers. Elvus was born for the purpose of being a guardian, and a wise one to a world of humans. Elvus's real name is Custus. 

June 28, 46   
Elvus took me far, far away from the village today. He showed me he could fly through the air and command the natural elements. He could make lightning strike wherever he pointed and set entire forests ablaze and then command the rain to put those fires out. I learned the truth that I will die and Elvus will not. 

July 20,   
The days are never hotter. 

July 23, 46  
Maybe I should explain to you what this place is and who we are. Me and Elvus are sons of our God Primus and this place is like an Edin, a paradise that Elvus fabricated with his powers. Primus is not a being conceivable by imagination, it lives all around us and sees everything but does not exist in the same realm. Primus is nothing in matter; you cannot touch it or see it and yet it simply exists.

September 19, 46   
Elvus tells me a story of a demon he has exiled here. This demon caused great havoc on the humans and killed nearly 15 million of them. 

September 20,   
Elvus tells me that there are no humans living in this "reality" called Paradise. We live alone in a fabricated world Elvus made and there are swarms of people living in a gigantic world in a different realm. 

October 29, 46   
The moon was full and blood red tonight. Elvus says it's a bad omen. 

February 4, 47   
Elvus is going to leave for a brief period. He says he'll be back before April. I know I will miss him so much. 

March 18, 47   
Primus created Elvus to watch over the humans, to be their guardian, since Primus isn’t physically bound to anything he can’t interfere. According to Elvus I was created to only be a companion to Him. I've become increasingly curious about his power. 

April 6,   
He hasn't returned yet. Why doesn't he come back? How hard can it be for him to show himself once in a while? 

May 23, 47   
The two youngest Silas and Maritza were killed by wolves while playing in the forest. I was supposed to be watching over them. Gods does the guilt weigh down on me, like a chain weighing on my heart. 

May 25,   
I've never seen someone dead. Today they buried Silas and Maritza in a field of flowers. They put huge stones with their names carved into them at the head of the graves. 

May 26,   
Only if I'd had those powers maybe I could've saved them. Maybe if I were invincible like Elvus I wouldn't have been afraid. 

July 17, 47   
Elvus finally returned. He was heartbroken by the news. The guilt is the worst it's ever been. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't. 

August 3, 47   
Elvus is leaving again. He seemed so cold when he returned. He leaves by walking into the lake. He submerged his head and he never came out. I wanted to follow him, but I was too scared that the process might kill me. 

April 6, 48   
I can't express how disappointed I am that Elvus hasn't returned. He never used to leave and now he is always gone. 

February 27, 52   
Elvus is always here and gone again. He spends little time here and his returns grow more and more scarce. I'd nearly forgotten about this journal. Archie found it. Archie is like a younger brother to me and he looks up to me more than anything. Aria does not leave, she says "Be patient." 

November 2, 58   
Today Elvus finally returned after 6 long years. I'm glad to see him again. 

November 30, 58   
The moon was blood red tonight. 

December 9   
Elvus tells me to stay out of the basement. He tells me it's for the better of us all. 

December 11,   
Elvus leaves again. 

February 5, 59   
The basement gnaws at the back of my head. Maybe writing about it will help. 

February 6,   
There is some sort of creature in the basement. It's trapped behind one of the walls. It spoke to me through a gap on the wall. All I could see was its red skin and its bright yellow eyes. 

February 9   
I finally returned to the basement. Me and this demon talked. He goes by the name Nero. He'd been trapped there for a very long time by Elvus. He cannot leave unless Elvus is dead. The demons' body is tethered to this "reality." 

February 10,   
I declined Nero’s offer to take his power. I know it's the right thing to do. No matter how tempted I am I must resist the temptation. 

February 15, 59   
Archie has gone missing. The whole village searched all day for him. I hope he is ok despite the menacing concerns. 

February 16,   
The day passed quicker than ever when searching for Archie. My heart won’t stop drumming in my chest and it is difficult to sleep.

February 17,   
He's still not found, and I fear the worst has happened. 

February 18,   
I come home exhausted after searching for so many hours and yet when I come home, I cannot sleep. My heart aches to see him again and I would do anything to see his face.

February 20,   
I told Nero of Archie’s disappearance and he offered me help. He offers me his powers since he cannot use them and in exchange, I let him free. I decline. I know it is the right thing to do.   
Before I left the basement, he made another offer. “Kill Elvus with his power and use it to save Archie and simply take the burden of being the next guardian.” I am slightly tempted but my answer is still no.  
As I sit here on my desk it’s currently snowing. To-night is going to be terribly cold.

February 21,   
Hopefully, this new power the demon gave me will be enough to save Archie. I beg he clings onto whatever life he has. 

February 22,   
My powers are weak, and I can scarcely fly, but I covered more ground today than I normally would. If Archie is out there, I'll find him. 

February 23,   
Archie returned home last night. He was dirty and exhausted but still alive. His feet and hands were black with frostbite but thankfully he won’t lose them. Now I feel like a fool accepting the demon's power. So, I'll use it wisely by protecting the ones I love and joining Elvus. He must look at me as an equal from now on and together we’ll make Primus proud.

February 27, 59   
I grow stronger and stronger everyday yet this price I'd paid lingers in the back of my head. I conditionally must kill Elvus with this power. 

March 2,   
Keeping this power a secret has created a divide between me and my village. They say I've been acting strange since Archie disappeared. I do not care since now they are safe from everything. 

March 11,   
Archie tells me I've been acting strange and on top of that I'm starting to have massive jumps of time and hours of time seem to go missing, like gaps in my memory. Though I am slightly concerned, I don’t want to be bothered by it. 

March 16   
Aria and the village insist I'm not well and beg me to stay in my bed. They say rumors that I wander around during the days and nights mumbling to myself. I cannot remember this. I thought today was the twelfth of march but it’s actually the sixteenth. I know it's in the better interest of my village that I don’t tell them about the demon.

March 27,   
The gaps in my memory have gotten worse. I do not care, and I am so frustrated and enraged that nearly everyone pretends that I no longer exist, and that Archie is now terrified of me. He tries to avoid me; he doesn’t come over anymore and the way he looks at me. It’s as if I’m some wild animal that has escaped its cage. If he only- If they only knew that it was all for them. 

April 1,   
I am no longer convinced that this power is good for me or my family. I am absolutely terrified the demon inside my head will take over. He is like a whisper in my head in addition to my own voice, a terrifying stranger. Even more concerning the demon in the basement has refused to talk to me anymore. Sometimes my vision becomes extremely bright and I can no longer control myself. It's like watching through a window as I witness myself doing things that I do not control. I fight it but there is no guarantee that I can win especially as time goes on. 

April 7,   
This thing has completely taken over inside me and the voice is no longer a quiet whisper. I learn my own intentions from the thoughts I keep hearing. This is going to be the slim time I have left before he takes control of my body forever. This is the last free will I have left. I know it's only to write one last entry for Elvus to read. I am the one who murdered Archie, Aria with my own hands I watched as the life drained from their eyes. I watched myself murder the rest of my family. I am left with their blood on my hands. I'm sorry Elvus. I'm only filled with regret. I was foolish to accept this power. When you find this book, I want you to know how so, so, so sorry I am. 

[make a bunch of Huns that are young and likable characters]  
Hans was directed to make his own squad of young men and women that would take their own crystalline blades. They all look up to Hans as a leader and a father.  
Ferdinand   
Arland  
Kerstin  
Liese  
Nixie  
Of German descent   
Ferdinand ran up Hans as he slowly approached the group of young adults.  
“Hey Hans,” Ferdinand shouted ecstatic.   
“I did it, Ferdinand,” Hans mumbled. Ferdinand looked up at him.   
“You did what?” he asked in his young voice.  
“I destroyed the Merchant warrior,” Hans mumbled. He got to one knee and hugged Ferdinand tightly.  
“You did it!” He exclaimed.   
“I made him pay for his crime against us,” Hans mumbled. There was an heir of disappointment in his voice.  
“Did you battle him to the death?”  
“No,” Hans replied. “There was no fight. He just let me kill him. On the stairway. Eroberer decided to finish his wife, but it’s not over. The lineage still continues.”  
“Doesn’t it really matter?”  
“Yes. The cycle continues with them. If I don’t kill them too their reign will never end.”  
“Then let me help you,” Ferdinand exclaimed.  
“The training will be rough,”  
“I’m ready for it,”  
“You have a strong heart,” Hans replied. “I know you have what it takes.”   
Nixie approached nervously with clenched fists. “If you’re going then I’m going too!” she stated. “Train me too Hans!”  
“Me too,”  
“Me too,”  
“I’m also in,”  
“Are you guys seriously going to make me train all of you?” Hans said.  
“YES,” Everyone exclaimed. Hans let out a groan. “Come on you can’t be serious!”  
“We’re all like Ferdinand, if he’s joining then, so are we!” Hans let out a laugh. If Hans was ever going to be a father, then they were going to be his children.  
.

[CRINGE. REWRITE THIS!]   
Way north of the Arundel border an Arundel scout post lay in the unclaimed high wastelands. On look out to scout the mountain range. The scout post was no more than a tower and a chorale beneath. The post laid in a thick coniferous forest at high altitude. The nearby mountains loomed over the scout post and had recently brought its annual flood.  
It was first light, barely dawn. The surrounding area was still dim and yet the wild animals were restless. All the birds had been disturbed and left the surrounding area. "Hya!" The rider hollered. His horses began pulling the empty supply wagons through the muck. Their hooves were silenced by the deep muck that coated the grassless ground surrounding the tower for a few yards in every direction. Several soldiers worked bringing in a month's worth of supplies into the cabin that stood connected to the tower. Four supply wagons caked in mud were pulled out of the base and down a dark road that weaved its way through the tall evergreen trees.  
Keith sat at the top of the tower with a blanket tucked under his feet. He shivered relentlessly. Keith’s eyes felt heavy and he struggled to keep them open. He was tired since he had been on watch duty since the early hours of the morning. He wished his shift would end so he could return inside the warm tower. He looked over the edge of the tower and suddenly spotted a figure run off into the dark forest. "Must be a deer," he thought. It had been the third "deer" he saw that morning, but he thought nothing of it.  
A man opened the trapped door to the top of the watchtower. Keith slowly got to his feet and the two men switched places without even saying a word. Keith sluggishly walked down the stairway inside the tower yawning. Keith was part of the 97th Border Post stationed under the mountains north of the Arundel border. There wasn't a town or village less than five miles away in all directions.  
Darkly dressed figures crept through the surrounding forest staying low. They laid low, but ready to pounce like a cat on an unsuspecting mouse. They cared their axes low and wore deer hides, and furs as camouflage. The leader of this platoon blew into a high-pitched horn signaling attack! The sound of the instrument echoed through the quiet forest getting the attention of birds and beasts alike.  
Keith stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look out a small window next to him. His stomach dropped as several figures came jogging out of the forest holding their axes above their heads.  
"An attack!" Keith shouted at the top of his lungs. The soldiers in the tower all stopped momentarily before running to the armory. Keith quickly shuffled down the stairway sliding his hands off the rail and against the stone wall. The scouts in the base only had time to grab their swords, axes, crossbows. and bows. A large Hun kicked open the door to the tower. His axe rested on his shoulder and he smirked grimly. Keith stopped in his tracks. Suddenly a crossbow bolt hit him in the stomach sending him flying backwards down the tower steps. The two dozen Arundel soldiers all wearing their black cloaks peered out of the tower door with their weapons ready. Keith stood behind them all terrified by their outstanding odds. He gripped the hilt of his sword.  
"We need to escape and get the message out! None of these bastards want us out of here alive! We need to get to the horses! CHARGE!" The captain charged out of the tower towards the stables. He cut down the few Huns that crossed his path. A soldier was struck by an ax and then another. Keith cowardly hid behind his comrades. The Captain pushed open the door to the stables. The soldiers moved through the door. Almost all of them including the Captain broke off and stayed to defend the entrance to the stable. Only four out of the twenty horses in the stable were saddled up. "Eight of you ride out of here!" The captain ordered. There was a pause among some of the men. Eight of us but which ones? The Captain looked back at the men staring back at him. He had to make the hard decision. He pointed at Keith and seven others close to the horses. "You, you, you, and you. Deliver the message we're under attack!" The eight men obediently mounted the horses sitting two to a horse. A sergeant took the lead. The Captain and the other men were still holding off the entrance.   
"I'm Ready!"  
"Go!" the captain shouted. The soldiers at the entrance made a clear pathway out of the stable. The sergeant's horse galloped out of the stable and he bashed the Hun in front of him with his sword. Keith and the others followed him. Keith was second to last and sat behind the soldier at the reigns. The sergeant steered his horse, and his partner swooped his sword down trying to slash down Huns. The sergeants partner leaned over too far and stabbed by a spear knocked off his horse. The fallen soldier spooked the riders in front of Keith and the horse swerved to the right too far and a Hun Swung his axe into the chest of the horse. The dark forest was only a few yards away. The riders behind Keith were stuck down by several arrows. Keith looked back in fear and in relief as the Huns only grew further away. Keith looked ahead.  
"Good that should have been the last of them," the sergeant sighed in relief. Suddenly four archers lurched out from behind two big pine trees on each side of the road. They already had their bows drawn. The sergeant shouted in fear. the sergeant and his horse were struck with several arrows before collapsing. Keith's partner shielded him from a few arrows before the horse passed the archers. Keith was frozen in fear. He let out an angry shout and threw his dead comrade off the saddle and grabbed the reins.  
The horse limped and slowed its pace. An arrow had struck its upper leg and compromised the animal. The horse would definitely not make it fifty more miles. An arrow struck the horses rear and the animal galloped off the road and toward a river. Just as the animal reached the bank of the river it neighed and jumped on its hind legs and turned facing down the river. The horse was struck again, and his horse went down. Keith pushed himself off the animal and fell into the river.  
A man has fallen into the river in Lego city!  
Start the new rescue helicopter!  
HEY!  
Build the helicopter!  
(sounds of helicopter being built)  
And off to the rescue!  
Prepare the lifeline!  
Lower the stretcher!  
And make the rescue!  
(dramatic music)  
The new emergency collection from Lego City.

CHAPTER:

[insert camping scene here]

A little while after midday we had wandered past a farm. Levine steered us close to the farmhouse, and onto a dirt road heading in the general direction of our destination. The road meandered for several more miles, and past several more farmhouses. Young workers in the yellow wheat fields stopped their scything and observed us as we passed by.   
"Those poor boys, and girls," Lissa commented. "Only if there was some sort of invention that made farming easier."   
"You speak as if they didn't have a choice," Fred said.   
"Usually, they don't. They're born into this work, and it's labor," Lissa replied.   
"You have a lot of sympathy for them. Were you raised on a farm?" I asked.   
"I was born on a farm in the east. I lived near the border you see," Lissa answered.   
"What made you quit," Dan asked.   
"After the death of my family I had nowhere to go. I was in the chicken coop gathering eggs, and suddenly there was a crash and the house fire quickly engulfed the Living Room. Father, and my brother rushing into the burning house to recover my mother, and two sisters. I stood idly by as the house burned down. there were screams, and my sister was thrown out of the second story window. She was unconscious, her skin was severely burned black, and her hair had melted away. My brother somehow was trapped downstairs, and my father tried to escape out the back door, but his legs became pinned by a burning post. By the time I got there to rescue him, his feet were black, and he cried."   
"Your mother?" Fred asked.   
"She must've died from the shock. Father had told me it was too late for her by the time he managed to get upstairs before he had succumbed to his injuries. My sister suffered the same fate," Lissa finished. Several seconds of silence passed.   
"You're not the only one orphaned because of a fire," Lieutenant colonel Levine said. I felt he was referring to me. "You should feel right at home with this squad."   
"Easier said than done Lieutenant Colonel," Lissa replied.   
"I lost my parents in a fire too," Levine said solemnly. For a moment I was caught off guard.   
"Levine, you never told me your parents died in a fire," I said surprised.   
"You never wanted to talk about your dead parents, so I didn't want to talk about mine," Levine replied lamely. "I have a brother who survived. Though I'm afraid he is always close, and intends to kill me," Levine smirked, and chuckled under his breath.   
"I'm sorry to hear about your family, Lisa," Dan said sincerely.   
"Thank you," Lisa replied. The dirt road had connected to a single large road. Levine took a left turn and took us heading south. To our left was an oak and maple forest that shaded part of the road. To our right all the land was cleared, and fenced cattle.   
"I know this road. We're getting close," Diana informed. "But this means-"   
"We're heading right for the Arundel Mansion," Levine said in his usual lame tone. Diana looked right at me and smiled with excitement. I politely smiled back. Levine led us down the dirt road for several hours till we came to a large mansion. It was large enough to be an inn. We admired it for a few minutes. Then we walked onto the gravel walkway leading to the mansion's entrance. The gravel path cut through the large lawn filled with trimmed hedges, strange flowers, and ferns. How odd, I thought to myself. I looked at Diana, she was smiling like she was home. The sun was sinking low turning the sky a beautiful orange, and red.   
"Are all the plants you have poisonous," Lissa asked.   
"Yes, I do believe so," Diana answered.   
"Why is that?"   
"To be honest I really don't know."   
The new kids see ghosts by Kanye West.

[insert mystery murder complex with the Arundel’s]  
[insert character development]  
[introduce Rachel, Diana’s older sister]  
[insert doubts about Isabelle]  
[mention a witch]

[rewrite so it’s less cringe]  
I walked down the cobblestone road in the slums. I can't believe I'm actually looking for a witch. My head feels no better. Unbelievably Rachel somehow was able to give me the directions to a witch doctor. I never met one before and my experience with witches hasn't been good so far. What if it's an evil witch? I could be slaughtered, and no one will know where I am at. No, I must be brave. This is no ordinary headache. I get the feeling someone has put a curse on me, and I might as well ask about Isabelle first. I really need to know if I can trust her, I am not certain about trusting her since she already possessed me once. I’m hoping that it wasn’t a ruse after all these years, but it could have been a lie. I need to find out. Though I'm still very scared and part of me doesn’t want to know what the answer is.  
I looked at an old rundown building that stood in front of me. I walked up its old cobblestone steps to a cracked wooden door. The brass address "1534" had oxidized, turning the numbers into an ugly greenish color. I raised my fist to knock on the old wooden door, as soon as I did my stomach dropped. I threw my fist forward pounding on the door several times. My gut felt empty as I heard rustling in the house. I noticed the door had a peep hole. I felt shivers all around my body. After a minute passed, I turned around ready to leave. I took a step toward the stairway but then there was a sudden ‘click’ and I froze in my tracks. A loud scrape startled me, and my stomach dropped again as I looked over my shoulder. The door had opened ajar, and an eye was curiously staring out at me. I could barely make out the light skinned person staring at me.  
It was the face of a middle-aged man who gazed down on me through the lens of his spectacles. I finally gathered the courage to speak.  
"Hello," I said, sounding falsely confident. I felt my eyebrows twitching.  
"What do you want, soldier?" the man asked with a threatening and annoyed voice.  
"I just want to talk sir," I blurted out. The man pulled the door open a little more. He had a cold glare that stared directly into my eyes. His hair was wet and trimmed nicely he wore a beige coat and dark brown pants as if his job occupation required him to be so formal.  
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked in the same tone.  
"I heard a witch doctor lived here and I believe I’m cursed," I tried to explain nervously. The strange man opened the door a little more.   
“You must be seeking out my wife,” he muttered. “I am a doctor and she’s the witch.”  
“I see.”  
"Well then, come in," the man offered. I looked over my shoulder noticing passer byers were giving me strange looks. I took a few steps forward till I was standing in the door frame of the house. The strange doctor was standing in his dark hallway. I swallowed my saliva. I slowly took a few steps into the dark wooden hallway and closed the door behind me, and the room grew dark. My arms and hands trembled; I could barely move. I managed to take a few steps before breaking a sweat. I stopped in my tracks. The stranger leading down the hallway stopped and turned around. He took a step towards me. I realized he was walking towards me and my stomach drops once more. I stood frozen not knowing what to do. I looked up wondering what to do.  
“Are you quite alright?” he asked in a suspicious tone.  
“Yeah,” I stuttered. He turned his head to look down the hallway before calling out in a firm but considerate voice.  
“Hey Ann! We have a patient!” he called out. He took a few steps forward as a woman entered the hall. Her red bangs almost draped over her eyes. I managed to bring myself to my senses and shook away some of my uneasiness.  
She had crazed eyes that stared into mine. She had a dress in perfect condition that looked like it was in fashion two hundred years ago. Her bangs were unevenly cut and overall, she had such a strange hairstyle. Her hair was put into two curled pigtails on the back of her head. Every strand of hair was a giant curl. She looked abnormal altogether. It did not surprise me rumors had circulated she was a witch.  
“Don’t act too queer, you might frighten him off,” the doctor remarked.  
"There's nothing to fear, soldier. Those rumors about me are barely true," The woman said. They led me into a dark room that clearly resembled a dining room and a kitchen. The strange woman had me seated and began making tea. The doctor sat on a sofa across from me in the poorly lit room "So, tell me soldier,” said the doctor.  
"Yes doctor?" I blurted out. The woman walked up to me holding a tray holding two teacups. The teacups looked old with plenty of chips in them. She handed me one.  
"What is your concern?" I drank from the dark liquid in the cup. The tea was not bad, but not particularly good either but I almost felt violated drinking from it.   
"Well, it's a question no one natural can answer," I blurted out. "I want to know if I can trust someone I know, who appears close to me."  
"What makes you think I can give you this knowledge," The woman asked before setting the try down and sitting next to her husband.  
"Well... Well because you're a witch," I replied, frankly.  
"Well, I could give you an answer, but of course doctors don’t work for free," she said.  
A sharp pain went through my hand and I dropped my teacup. The cup bounced off the table and hit the groundbreaking into pieces. The couple stood up, unexpecting my actions. I also stood up startled not knowing what to do. I scolded myself for being so clumsy. I had gotten myself too worked up about this.  
"I'm terribly sorry about that, I'll clean it up."  
"No, stop soldier," The woman said. I froze and looked into her eyes as she did the same to me.  
"Young man you're not healthy," The woman remarked.  
"Wha-what do you mean of course I'm..."  
"No, you're not your face is pale, and your breathing is erratic. Let me feel your forehead." The woman reached her hand out and touched the back of it against my forehead. Her hand felt quite cold. "Good lord you're burning up."  
"What?! Really?! No, your hand is just cold that's all," I replied.  
"Let me get a thermometer,” the doctor said.  
"I'm fine, I just feel a bit odd, nothing to get concerned about yet," I said as the doctor left the room. I followed him into another room. "Listen-" The room I entered took my breath away. It seemed oddly familiar. Little glass bottles stacked on every wall glowed a dim eerie neon green. There were odd shapes in the bottles where the light emanated. I looked at a bottle closest to me to see what was making this luminescent light. A mushroom sat in the bottle in front of my eyes. The mushroom itself was green and emitted light.  
"Woah. What is this?" I asked.  
"It's called bioluminescence, but it's artificially made by magic," the woman replied standing in the door behind me. "They aren't very bright because there's a very, very minuscule amount of magic running through them."  
"That's so amazing."  
"Some things do this naturally though,” the doctor added on.  
"How does magic do this?" I asked.  
"Some powerful forces release magic instead of containing it and it makes plants bioluminescent,” the woman replied.  
"I see..."  
"But by all means some plants naturally luminesce on their own," The man grabbed a thermometer and held it in front of my face. I put the end in my mouth and stood there for several seconds. He pulled the thermometer out of my mouth and held it close to his face. "One hundred and one." I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh before opening them. I took another deep breath and let out an agitated sigh.  
"Well okay," I muttered. I followed the strange woman back into her living room. She stood in front of her couch and gestured me to lay down.  
“Relax and speak your mind,” she said. I walked over, took my boots off, and laid my head on the couch. She sat down on the chair I had previously sat on and her husband sat next to her on a rocking chair.  
"How's this?"  
"It's cozy, I guess. My friends will be wondering about me."  
"I understand you but understand how sick you are,” the doctor warned.  
"Why are you doing this," I asked.  
"Well, I would feel awfully bad just letting someone die who I know I could save."  
"That's... honorable I guess," I replied. "It's just a fever. It can't be that bad." My eyelids began to feel heavy.  
“I can sense the strange power flowing through you,” Ann remarked. “It’s a dark and evil power.”  
“How can you tell?” the doctor asked her. I stayed silent. I figured I could’ve gotten away with it without them knowing.  
“I can feel him draining the energy from his surroundings,” she replied. “That’s the power of demons.”  
“Well, what’s the difference?” he asked skeptically. I found it odd that two people were gossiping about me in my presence.   
“A divine creature like a God or an Angle emits energy,” she said making a sweeping gesture with her hand. “It flows from them, but a demon naturally absorbs their power from the things around them and a simple witch like me, gets my magic by physical means.” She turned her head and faced me. “So, tell me, how does a common soldier like you, have this power?” I didn’t answer right away. “Are you a demon?”  
“No,” I muttered. “Do you know about the Shrine of the Cursed Blades?”  
“Everyone knows of it,” she answered.  
“Not long ago I acquired one of the crystalline blades. I was possessed at first but somehow I managed to break free and make a contract with Isabelle,” I explained.  
“Isabelle? The demon?” she asked.  
“Yeah.”  
“Why did she possess you?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“And how is it you are the only person who has ever managed to wield one of these blades in sixteen years?” she interrogated.  
“I was chosen,” I muttered. “She talked to me in my dreams.”  
“I see,” she muttered.  
The woman left the room and came back several minutes later and a cup of tea. She held the cup in front of me. I slowly sat up and grabbed the teacup. The brew smelled strange but had a relaxing effect. I took a sip of the brew. It tasted like the smell of an herb stand. It was not bad for an herb tea. I handed the empty cup back the lady. My body unexplainably slowly began to feel lighter. I felt as if heavy chains smelted off me. "What was that for," I asked.  
"Pain."  
"Oh..." I sat silently feeling very uneasy. My headache melted away and My eye lids felt heavier with every blink. "How... How long is this going to last before it wears off," I asked yawning.  
"Just a few hours. Just enough time for you to recover," The woman replied.  
"Can I trust Isabella," I said out loud.  
"No."   
“How so?”  
“I sense she has clouded allegiance. She’s very depressed, isn’t she?”  
“Yeah,” I replied.  
“I see,” she replied before I drifted off into a deep sleep where there were no dreams only darkness. I slowly opened my eyes. My eyelids felt extremely heavy. I let out a sigh and sat up and across the room from me the witch stared back at me. She sat in the wooden rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The room was lit by the eerie yellow flames and nothing else. Her husband sat passed out on the soft sofa.  
"It's odd," the woman remarked.  
"What is?" I asked in a quiet voice.  
"Two of your company. Two of them are travelers,"  
"Travelers?"  
"It's the only way I can describe it," she said. "They do not hail from this time but from a time that's confusingly advanced. Like they've been preserved in an extraordinarily long and deep sleep."  
"I think I know the two you're taking about. As a matter of fact, now that you mention it, I'm almost certain it's them. The inventor and the engineer."  
"Yes,"  
"Can they be trusted?"  
"I sense no ulterior motives within them." She gave me a hopeful look. “As a matter of fact, I think they’re trying to help you.”  
“What do I owe you?” I asked.  
“A mark.”  
“A mark!?” I said with a bit of a shocked tone. I reached into my pocket and felt around the coins in my pocket. I had one mark, but I was reluctant to part with it. I pulled out the golden cold and held it forward. Ann grabbed the coin from my hand. I felt her ice-cold fingers unintentionally touch my finger as she plucked the coin from my hand. I quickly pulled on my boots and left the building without saying a word.

CHAPTER

[introduce Helena]  
[I used to know your father monologue]

[meeting at HQ. Alexandur is crowned leader of Aulganiya. Alexandur announces a declaration of WAR!]  
[insert archeological dig scene. Dug into a subway tunnel, they find decayed computers gasmasks ad guns]  
[insert Dan and Fred confession]  
[insert iconic “What do you need?” he asked.   
“Three marks,” Dan replied.]  
[insert Dan and Fred getting their stuff back]  
[insert introduction of the gun]

There was a loud boom that blasted our ears, and the metal ball flew out from the steel tube and bust into a small black cloud in the sky. It’s pop rang out and it sounded like a large rock that was dropped from a second story window that had smashed against a stone road. I let out a laugh of excitement along with the others – except Dan. He had an uneasy face that he was trying desperately to smile off.  
“Go on! Try another one!” Lisa demanded. Fred dropped the bag of powder down the nozzle and placed the circular grenade in. He stuck the pin in, walked back behind the protection of the small stone wall and with a jerk he thrust on the rope yanking the pin out of the firing mechanism. The mechanism didn’t fire instead it hissed as smoke poured from the nozzle.  
“Oh shit! Get down!” Fred shouted as he ducked for cover behind the barricade. We all tucked our heads and cover our ear as a sudden explosion blasted our ears. I felt the vibration course through the ground and into my body like a jolt of electricity. We were suddenly engulfed in a cloud of brown dust that sprang off the dry land. I let the air settle before opening my eyes and uncovering my ears. My right ear pulsed as if it was beginning to bleed but when I felt it with my hand there was no blood.  
I was stupefied by the sight of Dan who was curled up, his hands over his ears, his nails digging into the side of his head, his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth clenched together as he rocked back and forth. He erratically jerked his head side to side as he muttered nonsensical words to himself.  
“Dan,” muttered Lisa. Dan jerked his head from side to side once more as he muttered under his breath. All I could make out was the reoccurring word of Blitz in his garbled speech and something about a shelter.  
“Black Saturday,” Fred muttered under his breath.  
“Dan,” I said firmly. I reached out and grabbed his arm. He snapped out of his trance and looked up at me, his eyes wide and filled with fear. He looked as if he’d just lived through a nightmare and wasn’t sure what he’d woken up to, but the memory still remained in his vision.  
“Dan, what’s wrong with you?” Lisa asked.   
“I… I-I,” he fumbled his words unable to make a coherent response. I looked to Fred for an answer.  
“Fred?” I said his name to see if he knew. Fred looked to his side and open his mouth.   
“I know what it is,” Fred muttered. “Dan was thirteen when the Blitz struck in 1940.”  
“Blitz?” Lisa inquired.  
“The Luftwaffe,” Dan muttered.  
“Flying machines dropped bombs on our city. Dan’s home was destroyed, and he lived in a subway for many weeks,” Fred described with a confusingly miniscule amount of detail. “It’s shell shock. He’s reliving those moments.”  
“What’s 1940?” Lisa asked.  
“Well, the year,” Fred answered. “Many died but we prevailed in the Battle of Britain.” 

[insert they’re off to fight a battle]

Dan pitched his shovel in the dirt and threw his shirt off. He had two circular leather tags on a string around his neck. One was a black hexagon and a red circular tag hung below it.   
"So, what's your story Dan?"   
"My story? You ask like I'm an old man who's lived their entire life."   
"I'm curious about this different world you come from. I guess I still don't believe you one hundred percent."   
"It's not a different world, same one but different time." I stabbed the dirt with my shovel and lifted a load of dirt onto the top of the ditch. I looked over at Dan as he sat with a pipe in his mouth. The pipe suddenly slipped out of his mouth as he stared dead eyed straight at the ground. Something suddenly became disturbingly off about him. It dawned on me that Dan was reliving something.   
"Dan." He didn't move a single muscle.   
"His armies on the brink of thy kingdom; Greet them with gas and shells instead of words." Dan mumbled to himself his voice was very rough.   
I furrowed my brow extremely confused by his words. I imagined children throwing snail shells at one another. Without budging Dan began to speak. "This work reminds me of the time I was a soldier." The wind became slightly more intense. "I'd spent two years of my life fighting for a country that no longer exists." Dan paused. "I was a boy like you, and a soldier. I'd fought in a war much more terrible and much more deadly than this one. Over seventy million people died in six long years. We would dig these foxholes to take cover in. The winters were terribly cold, and I nearly lost all my toes." 

[insert battle here]  
[insert victory]

“Narumi,”  
“Yes, what is it Eroberer?” Narumi asked humbly.   
“Are you ready?” Eroberer asks.  
“Yes, we have thousands ready to storm on horseback.” Narumi answers.  
“Good. You and Hans will invade Aulganiya and take its capital,” Eroberer commanded. “She is weak without her army.”

[insert invasion of the Huns] 

[out of sequence]   
"General they're coming!" A messenger panted. The soldier panted, and he was dirty with mud, and sweat.  
"What!? Who?" General Hahn demanded.  
"The enemy," The soldier answered. "Huns. An entire army of them twenty-four hours march from here. They won't stop. They're coming with full force and it's impossible to stop them with the manpower available!" The general stood silent for a few seconds.  
"Order all soldiers and men willing to fight to gather at the Arundel HQ!" The General ordered.   
"Sir."  
"We're not going down without a fight." All the soldiers rushed out of the room to spread the word as quickly as possible. Minutes later panic erupted in the streets. People soon began to panic and rush back to their homes. The streets were quickly crowded with people heading in different directions.  
General Hahn gazed out of a window in the conference building. He stared at the masses of people in panic.  
"General? Are you sure about this?" An officer asked with doubt. The General answered moments later.  
"About a last stand?"  
"About sending soldiers to their deaths. Sir, I don't believe an honorable last stand is appropriate."  
"Officer Heinrich," The General muttered. He turned his head to look at the young officer. "I will not let those bastards sneak attack the capital and not put up a fight."  
"But sir-"  
"For as long as we can hold them back it will give other cities time to prepare for the enemy."  
"Sir based on their numbers a holdout would last no more than 24 more hours."  
"Then 24 hours is all we can give..." The general gave a troubled sign. "I've dispatched several riders to warn three southern cities of the advancing threat. Riders are heading to the cities Lorenz, Vogt, and Kramer. I've given the order for all possible forces to gather at the closest city Vogt and fortify for an attack. They are expected to take in any retreating soldiers from here."  
"Sir, thank you for enlightening me, but will it be enough?"  
"It's very unlikely they're numbers are far too high. I predict in little over a week they'll have most of the major cities conquered."  
"It will take about three days for messengers to travel all the way here to the front. It'll be too late," Heinrich replied.

[in sequence]  
Commander Lloyd sat on his steed gazing down at a valley from the top of a cliff. A large army marched in his direction in a neatly packed formation. Lloyd sighed as he attempted to predict the number of men that marched within the ranks.  
"Two... Three ... Four. Tsk! Four thousand enemy soldiers. Approximately," The Commander muttered aloud. There were about a dozen scouts behind him on horseback.  
"Sir? Your orders?" A soldier asked with a false sense of confidence. The Commander looked back at the few soldiers.  
"I haven't decided what to do yet," The Commander said dumbfounded. Lloyd looked back at the invading army. "We make for Haas and Dietrich," The Commander decided. "We split up and spread the word of the incoming army!" The Commander's horse trotted downhill towards the few soldiers behind him. He passed them and steered his stead in-between the thin trees. The rest of the platoon was waiting for their commander at the foot of the hill. The Commander searched for words as he approached the cavalry men. Lloyd spoke strongly, and with surging confidence.  
"Soldiers, approximately four thousand men, are plowing through our territory. We will ride out to warn surrounding cities of their advance and order an evacuation. Now men shuffle into two groups!" The platoon quickly obeyed and shuffled into two groups. "The group to my right, you'll be heading to Dietrich. Krause has command-"  
"Roger," Krause replied.  
"And the group to my left you'll ride to Haas, Grob has command!" The Commander ordered with a great surge of energy and confidence.  
"Understood!" Grob replied.  
"I'll ride for the capital, Cakmak, with a few other riders. Now there is a big possibility that the capital is already under attack. Now riders do not engage the enemy at all costs. We need to preserve our strength to ensure future victory." The platoon listens without making a single noise. "Alert Haas, and Dietrich to evacuate and spread the word to all towns you go through... Do not head straight for the front line afterwards! Retreat into Gunterberge with the refugees. If I'm not there expect me to arrive within a week." Lloyd kicked into the sides of his steed. The stallion jumped on its hind legs for a second before galloping forward. "For Aulganiya!" Shawn gripped his reigns. He kicked into the sides of his steed, steered her in the direction of the commander. The rest of this team, Madison, Wyatt, and Grayson, followed Shawn. Wyatt pulled up next to Shawn.  
"Shawn, what the heck are you doing?"  
"I'm riding with the commander to Cakmak," Shawn replied.  
"Why," Wyatt quickly asked.  
"My family is there." Shawn looked over his shoulder at the rest of his team a few feet behind him. "What about you guys? Are you coming?" Madison silently nodded her head in agreement.  
"I wouldn't miss it," Grayson replied in a lame tone.  
"Do not fail me!" The commander shouted his final order. The Commander steered his steed onto a road heading southeast. The rest of the platoon split, and advanced in two different directions. Grob led his group west as Krause led his group southeast. The horse's hooves rumbled on the dirt road and kicked up a cloud of brown dust into the air. 

CHAPTER:

[insert evacuation and battle]  
[insert Isabelle betrayal scene]

"Commander Lloyd! Help us!" Lissa shouted. The Commander puzzled by distress calls turned around. "She's taken Oliver! Isabelle has taken Oliver, and she's heading right for the border!" Lloyd's face grew pale. Suddenly his face lit up. A spark of determination lit in his eyes. He turned to the soldiers nearest to him.  
"READY THE TROOPS!" The commander's voice was completely tense and wasn't about to show any slack. The soldiers took off into the camp with great haste. Moments later a bell rang in a small tower in the center of the camp. It chimed three loud times. The low energy camp was quickly filled with movement. Soldiers dressed in casual wear, some still in their underwear, and others ready in uniform began lining up in front of the commander. They moved carelessly, tripping over tent stakes, knocking over pots of water, and some because they didn't have their pants pulled up all the way. No matter the clothing, and the half shaved faces they all stood tall at the ready. Their feet were shoulder width apart, and their arms crossed behind their backs.  
"ALL CAVALRY MEMBERS THERE'S BEEN AN EMERGENCY! PRIVATE HARRIS HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED! THIS IS A SIMPLE TARGET, AND RECOVER MISSION! PREPARE TO HEAD OUT ON THE DOUBLE! DISMISSED!" The soldiers rushed away to get ready. "READY THE HORSES ON THE DOUBLE! WE HEAD OUT IN FIVE MINUTES. ONLY EQUIP IN LIGHT ARMOUR. REMEMBER THE DRILL!" Lloyd turned to the squad. "Alright what are we going off of?"  
"Right sir. Give me a map and I'll show you," Dan said. Lloyd turned to an officer behind him.  
"You heard the man get me a map!"  
"Right sir!" Several seconds later Dan unfolded a local map of the area on the side of his stallion. More and more cavalry men were lining up.   
"Right Isabelle is heading east to possibly rendezvous with the Invaders in the occupied Arundel territory."  
"Right, but she's in a thick forest we can't possibly reach her."  
"That's why we go around and cut her off from retreating into the forest," Fred said.  
"If she has this planned out, she'll have reinforcements waiting for her." Dan said. He suddenly gasped. "She's heading for a portal."  
"What!?" Lissa shouted.  
"Look! She's heading right for one!" Dan pointed on the map.   
"Good observation soldier," Lloyd said. "Soldiers mount your horses. You're in the center vanguard with me." Dan folded the map up and stuck it in his pocket."  
"As you know, Oliver is our last hope to go on. Without him Eroberer will never be defeated! Without him we'll never take back Aulganiya!" The soldiers behind him let out a roar of agreement. "Cavalry men charge!" Lloyd shouted pointing his sword forward. The men behind him roared once more. Lloyd kicked into the sides of his horse. It neighed before galloping forwards. Dan, Fred, and Lissa were close behind the commander. There were about two hundred soldiers following them on their pursuit.

[insert getting Oliver back scene]

Book 3

[keep in mind: Diana develops into a less narcissistic character while Oliver starts to deteriorate]  
[insert finding another demon to take Isabelle's place, Shadow.]  
[It's been years Oliver is now in his early to mid-20s.]  
[Oliver and Diana’s romantic interest will spike, and they will get married and have a few kids]  
[the story is reaching the ten year mark]  
I looked down at the dark street with a rising feeling of anxiousness. Several hundred horses and men all in formation. Finally, after two years we’re going to take back what’s ours and – I looked at the new weapon at my side – we’ve got a surprise on our side. I looked to the setting sun. Two armies are going to invade Aulganiya meanwhile we ride in and overthrow the capital and hopefully take back our land.  
I firmly set my foot in the stirrup and kicked my leg over. My shaky hand grabbed the reins.  
“Ready?” Diana asked.  
“As ready as I’ll ever be,”

[insert liberation mission]

[CRINGE REWRITE]  
“Come out here and face us Harris!” Hans shouted.  
“Hans… You got that drip?”  
“NANI?!”  
"HANNNNNNNS!" Hans and his men looked around trying to see Oliver through the smoke. Suddenly a load crackle echoed across the large stone buildings. A glowing red flare crackled through the air flying into Hans's left shoulder. Hans shouted in pain as the red burning flare burned while stuck in his chest. Oliver leaped out of the grey smoke [wearing a Supreme hoodie and Adidas sweats and white Nikes] and slammed his blade into the closest Hun. As the mighty blade sliced through him, blood splattered onto Oliver and all over the ground. Oliver leaped down the steps and slammed his blade into the neck of a second Hun. The sheer force of his swing sent blood splattering all over Oliver's face and clothes. Not a moment later he cut down a third Hun, and then a fourth. He swung furiously hacking off limbs in one swing. Hans grabbed the burning flare and yanked it out of his shoulder. His fingers burned, and skin melted onto the flare. He threw the crackling flare on the ground as he shouted in agony. He quickly looked up and saw the bodies, limbs and blood littering the steps of the staircase. To Hans's horror Oliver was right in front of him in the air ready to swing his blade down on him. Oliver's face, hair, and clothes were drenched with the dark vermillion blood of his enemies. A completely horrifying image of hatred. Hans quickly lifted his arms up. "AHHHHHH!" he screeched. Oliver furiously swung his blade down slicing off Hans's right arm. Hans threw his head back and let out a scream of utter pain and shock. Oliver threw his blade back and swung it into Hans's side. Blood splattered out of Hans, and onto the stone floor. Hans's eyes bulged and he shouted dreadfully. Oliver pulled his blade back once more and swung it into Hans's side again almost cutting his body into two parts. Blood flew off Oliver's blade, flew, and splattered onto the ground. Hans's remains collapsed on the ground. Blood drained out of his body and created a circular puddle on the stone roof.   
Oliver panted heavily, and his limbs were shaking. He stood and stared at Hans's bleeding carcass. His blade slipped out of his bloody hand and clanked on the ground that echoed through the stone floors and walls. Blood ran down his face and dripped off his chin.   
Diana quickly ran up the staircase to the roof. She frantically looked around through the smoke in all directions. She gasped at the sight of a dead body. She jogged over to the carcass, and then spotted another corpse several feet away. She paced over to it, and then spotted several more corpses. They were set in a trail leading to the staircase. Diana followed a line of corpses and finally spotted Oliver drenched in blood standing in front of a mangled body. He stared down at it. Diana at the top of the staircase loaded a red smoke grenade into the chamber. Diana covered her left ear with her hand and held her right arm against her other ear. Diana pulled the warm metal trigger, and the gun fired a canister several yards into the air. The canister burst into a large poof of red smoke in the air. Diana quickly rushed over to Oliver who was alerted by the gun shot. A big smile grew on Oliver's face as Diana approached him.   
"Ha! In your face Hans," Oliver shouted, punching the air.  
“Oliver you... You did it!” Diana gasps in disbelief.  
“What? Didn’t think I had it in me?” Oliver saunters up the staircase dragging his blade on the stone. “With one of the Generals defeated, Narumi and his men should retreat. If not, then it’ll be a bloody fight to the death.” Oliver carefully predicts.  
“Let's rendezvous with the main units.” Diana and Oliver rush down the spiraling staircase. “Lieutenant Colonel Levine has gone to face Narumi with his squad.” Diana informed him. Oliver pauses.  
“He can’t possibly beat Narumi one on one because his skill is unmatched.”  
“He left about 10 minutes ago.” Diana mentions. Oliver hastily rushes down the steps.  
“Come on we need to give him some back up!”  
“Agreed!”  
Oliver and Diana storm out of the building and down the street to their horses.

[insert Narumi fight scene]  
[insert liberation]  
[insert battle at the enemy capital]

“The towns they’re all empty,” Dan remarked.  
“How peculiar,” Fred acknowledged.   
“What are they planning?” Dan openly asked himself. “Any news?” he shouted to Lisa as she rode up on her horse.  
“Same thing,” she hollered back. “Everything is abandoned.”  
“How odd,” I muttered.  
“Perhaps they knew we were coming,” Dan suggested.  
“That’s very likely but would tens of thousands of people just disappear? Where would they go? We’ve been bound to find some by now.” I speculated.  
“Then they all moved west,” Fred speculated. 

Amongst the glowing blades of grass swaying like waves they shined a dim blue green like iridescent light.  
“You can feel the magic flowing through you,” I said. “It’s a strange power, uplifting in a way. Like I’m absorbing the energy all around me and it courses out of me. From the plants and the air.”

[final battle sequence]  
"This is the catastrophe the legends warned us of," Levine muttered. Thin long tentacles slithered out of the grass wrapping around corpses and pulling them away towards Eroberer. All the pools of blood flowed towards Eroberer like they were attracted to him.  
"Levine what's going on," Oliver shouted.  
"He's recycling the flesh of the dead and creating an abomination." A dark red flesh started to grow around Eroberer. It grew into a giant horse-shaped creature, the bodies dissolved into its flesh and it continued to swell and swell in size. The tentacles reached for people even for the followers. They slithered around snatching up many of his own men and absorbing them into the swelling creature.  
"Soldiers prepare to attack the abomination!" Alexandur commanded. Many reluctant soldiers rallied behind the General as he charged towards the abomination. The creature opened its jaw and slammed it’s the side of its face into the ground, snatching them up. Into its mouth.

[they cross the English Channel to escape the abomination and prepare for a final standoff.]

Our horses rode out into a clearing. A light flashed into our eyes and then dimmed revealing the flat landscape. The grass was a dark green and short. In the distance laid a stone tower. It loomed over us as we rode by it. I peered down the valley. In the very distance a bright blue reflected back at us. The mountains seemed to watch us in melancholy as they stood there and how they stood there for thousands of years. The blue light reflecting out from beyond the valley. It tinkered and flashed because of its ever-changing movement. The riders almost at the end of the valley were blinded by light as they emerged into view. The waves splashed onto the sandy shore. Oliver dismounted his stallion and walked onto the sandy beach. No one said a word. Everyone was speechless, maimed by the sight of the sea. Its waves bounced up and down in the distance.  
"The British Channel," Oliver muttered. The waves reached up the shore before receding.  
"It's beautiful," Dan added on.   
“Where are the ships?” Fred asked in a panic.  
“There’s a whole beach for them to be docked on. They can’t be far,” Lisa replied.  
“Where abouts are we at?” Dan asked with a hollow voice.  
“Somewhere around Juno,” Fred answered.  
“Ahh where the Canucks stormed,” Dan informed me. “I stormed Gold on D-day.”  
“Come on let's ride West,” Diana advised. “We’re bound to find something.”  
“What’s this D-day you’re referring about?” Lisa asked.   
“It was a terrible battle,” Dan replied vaguely. “Come on let's ride.”  
“You can’t be that vague about it,” Lisa scolded.  
“Lay off of him,” Fred interrupted. “He doesn’t want to relive it.”  
“I’m sorry Dan,”

Through the crowd of scrambling people pushing their way across the stone street I witnessed an old man shoved to the ground.  
“Hey!” I shouted at the assailant who quickly vanished in the mass of people. I forced my way across the street to the old man who was knocked against the side of a house. He clutched a long thin walking stick in his hand, and he wore filthy shabby rags. He was bald, his eyebrows were long and curly, and he had a long grey beard.  
I grabbed the frail old man under the arm and lifted him to his feet. He stood with a hunch. The tiny man looked up at me and his eyes widened. He lifted his sagging forehead so I could see his old grey eyes. He let out a shaky breath as if he’d found something he’d misplaced for a very, very long time. He lifted his wrinkly hand and touched the side of my face. I could feel his hand trembling against my cheek. Opening his mouth, he muttered in a worn-out voice that was given new life.  
“William,” he pronounced. He said a few more words in a language that I could not understand. William was the name of my father.  
“No.” I corrected him. “I’m Oliver.”  
“Oliver,” he muttered.   
He then pointed to himself and muttered, “Oliver.” He was trying to tell me his name was also Oliver. He then pointed at me and back at himself before muttering, “Harris.” I nodded my head.  
“Yes, Harris.” I confirmed. A tear dripped from the old man’s eye. I think I’d found my grandfather.  
“Grandpa?” I muttered.  
[insert defeat of the abomination]  
[Elvus makes an appearance]  
[Alexandur and his mages destroy Elvus. Eroberer’s body dies and Nero breaks free]  
[Jakab is killed. Fred is killed. Shawn, Grayson, Madison, and Wyatt are killed]  
[Nero and Narumi are destroyed. Oliver and Diana are gravely wounded.]  
[insert idea]  
[idea of a paradox]  
[Paradox idea: When Nero is killed his body transcends time and his body is reincarnated 500 years ago where he is captured by Elvus and he grants his power to Eroberer]

[OOF rewrite]  
"Anna," Oliver reached forward placing his hand softly on her cheek. Diana and Oliver kiss. Oliver sat up holding Diana. It's a heartbreaking moment but still bittersweet. Diana's eyes turn dark and her limbs go limp. Oliver rocks back and forth, he hyperventilates and squeezes Diana. He is suddenly empty inside, and his mouth gapes open and his hands shake as he strokes the back of Diana's head. He struggles to take a breath of air. As tears run down his red face, he lets out a scream filled with loss and despair. He falls back into the rubble holding her wheezing. He gripped her limp hand. Oliver's breathing grows weak and his chest rises a little less with each breath he takes. His face was pale, and he laid in a pool of his own blood. He laid listening to his heartbeat and then there was silence.  
Lisa stumbles upon their bodies and cries out in grief and collapses to her knees. Dan rushes to her side but freezes upon seeing the corpses. "No," Lisa wails in grief. Dan just stares in silence as Lisa collapses to the ground and reaches out. Her vision blurred by tears. Dan spots Oliver’s cloak amidst the rubble and carefully picks it up and pats the dust off it. He lays the cloak over Oliver and Diana's faces. He casually salutes without standing in attention a respectful farewell.  
Dan bends over and rubs Lisa's shoulder. She laid on her side, her cheeks swollen and her nose red. "This." She inhales. "This isn't real." She let out a shaky breath.

[describe the setting]  
[rewrite]  
A man in a grey uniform stands on a beach at sunset. the wind blows around his dark brown hair. He stares across the sea with melancholic eyes and a vase tucked securely under his arm. He is reluctant to spill the contents of the vase.  
"It should have been me." He mutters to himself the waves crash, and the gulls chirped above. He saunters down to the shore staring out at the horizon with longing. He marched into the water until his calves were submerged. He holds out the vase and grabs the lid but hesitates to open it. He takes a steady deep breath before removing the lid and tipping the vase. fine white particles of ash blow into the strong wind and falling in the water. The man trudges back to shore dragging his feet. He takes one knee on the shore and scoops a hole in the sand and carefully places the vase in the sandy cavity before burying it. The man looks to the sun which has nearly set with closure.   
"I know it's not exactly the freedom you wanted," He mutters as if speaking to a ghost. He slowly walks up the shore. “Be free, Oliver.”

[Lisa and Dan are together in the end]  
Dan made his way down the streets in a downpour. He was wearing a black suit, black pants, and a fedora.  
Dan stepped out of the rain into a dark empty building. On the other end of the tavern Lisa sat upon a stool wearing a black dress and cap. He grabbed his black fedora and placed it neatly on the hat rack. He clutched a soaked newspaper in his hand. He walked behind the counter of the bar throwing the newspaper down and stood across from Lisa.  
“Can I get you a drink madam?” he asked. Lisa gave him an unimpressed look.  
“How about a shot of vodka,” she insisted. Dan grabbed a shot glass and a bottle of vodka and poured her a glass. Lisa looked away from the glass as if it didn’t exist whilst Dan poured himself a glass. She looked at the water pouring down on the streets.  
“I miss them,” Lisa muttered.  
“It’s impossible not to,” Dan replied. He walked over to the other side of the counter and took Lisa’s hand. She stepped down from the stool to get a close embrace.  
[insert memorial scene here]

[ok so this doesn’t make sense. So, make it make sense]  
Oliver and Diana appear in the cosmos floating out in empty space bathing in the pink and purple starlight. Their skin luminates all colors of the light spectrum. Their eyes burned with divine light. Diana's hair was long and waved. They gradually drifted towards each other, they joined hands and kiss. The universe bursts with bright lights. They touch foreheads and noses. A star in the night gleams.  
They are surrounded by an invisible entity. It is sensed but not seen. It spoke in neither a male nor female voice. "My tasks here are complete. I will leave so I've chosen both of you to be the guardians of this universe."  
"Where will you go?"  
"Only the next stage of existence."  
Two kids, a boy and a girl in white robes run together through an open field laughing with joy. This is the end.

A hobbit’s tale by Dildo Baggins.

  
5 factor character models  
O.C.E.A.N.  
O – Openness to experience  
C – Conscientiousness   
E – Extraversion   
A – Agreeableness   
N – Neuroticism

Oliver Harris:  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange to low in conscientiousness  
\- Midrange extraversion (ambivert)  
\- Midrange agreeableness  
\- High to midrange neuroticism  
Diana Arundel  
\- Midrange openness to experience  
\- Low in conscientiousness  
\- Low extraversion (introvert)  
\- Low to midrange agreeableness  
\- Midrange in neuroticism  
Levine Harris  
\- High openness to experience  
\- High to mid in conscientiousness  
\- Midrange extraversion  
\- Midrange agreeableness  
\- Midrange to low in neuroticism  
Jakab  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange in conscientiousness  
\- High extraversion  
\- High agreeableness  
\- Low to midrange neuroticism  
Rayna  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Mid to high conscientiousness  
\- Low extraversion (introvert)  
\- Low in agreeableness  
\- High to midrange neuroticism  
Grayson  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange in conscientiousness  
\- High extraversion  
\- Midrange agreeableness  
\- Midrange neuroticism  
Shawn  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange to high conscientiousness  
\- Very low extraversion  
\- High in agreeableness  
\- High neuroticism  
Madison  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Low to mid conscientiousness  
\- High extraversion  
\- High in agreeableness  
\- Low neuroticism  
Lisa  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange conscientiousness  
\- Midrange extraversion  
\- Low to midrange agreeableness  
\- High neuroticism  
Dan  
\- High openness to experience  
\- Midrange conscientiousness  
\- High extraversion  
\- Midrange agreeableness  
\- Midrange neuroticism  
Fred  
\- Mid openness to experience  
\- Mid to high conscientiousness  
\- Low to mid extraversion  
\- Low in agreeableness  
\- Midrange neuroticism


End file.
